Manchester unveils 5.5m retail and catering upgrade

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Manchester airport unveiled the fruits of its £5.5m ($8.69m) retail and catering upgrade at terminal one to select media and business partners on September 18

Manchester airport unveiled the fruits of its £5.5m ($8.69m) retail and catering upgrade at terminal one yesterday (September 18). The project, the first phase of a £20m ($31.2m) plan to improve facilities at the 40-year-old terminal, includes new concepts from international operators The Nuance Group and Alpha Airport Shops and welcomes a host of international brands including Hugo Boss, Ted Baker, Cotton Traders and Stefanel.

Nuance has boosted its presence in the terminal with a new Goldsmiths jewellery store, a fresh sunglasses concept named All'ombra and a combined casual/sportswear boutique named Fashion Gallery and Tsunami. Alpha has renovated the main departures duty-free outlet with its new pink corporate branding, with an extended fragrances and cosmetics area and dedicated customer services staff ? "Pink Coats" ? and colour-coding to distinguish duty-free from duty-paid liquor and tobacco.

Dixons Tax Free also extended its airside store, while WHSmith introduced improvements to its arrivals and departures outlets.

The facility's food and beverage offer has also been greatly enhanced, most notably through new concepts from Select Service Partner, with pizza outlet Mamma Leone's and baked chicken specialist Deli-Chic making their UK travel-retail debuts airside.

The terminal now boasts almost 90,000sq ft (8,364sq m) of commercial space divided between 38 shops and 19 catering outlets. Income from T1 concessions reached £18.5m in the fiscal year 2002-3, with passengers spending an average of £15.26 ($24.11) each.

Commenting on the changes, Manchester Airports Group chairman councillor John Byrne told TRW: "We place a strong emphasis on retail and catering activity as it is something the passenger has come to expect, and it is vital to optimise our revenue streams both for the profitable operation of the airport today and to generate funds for the investments we need to make tomorrow. Our aim is to make the Manchester experience the best there is at any UK airport."

For more details, see next Wednesday's DFNI eXTRA and DFNI October 1, out next month.