The UK’s retail and leisure sector is rapidly evolving. For every retailer that fell by the wayside following the last recession, another one has come along to replace it, with varying degrees of success.
Some have disappeared as swiftly as they arrived while others have gone from strength to strength. One bunch of retailers that fall into this latter category are the Scandi operators.
The likes of Tiger and the H&M Group’s brands have rapidly grown their retail portfolios across the UK and have plans to further expand, as too does The Light. The cinema chain, which opened its first site in 2011, focuses on giving customers a memorable experience.
The chain’s founders believe that the multiplex model that grew rapidly in the 1980s and 1990s is tired and in dire need of a refresh.
They also believe that cinemas and retailers, such as those aforementioned Scandi operators, can be the catalyst for change and regeneration in the nation’s city centres, which ironically were initially blighted by the hordes of cinema operators and retailers moving to out-of-town sites in the first place.
Speaking of out of town, the one operator who truly feels at home there is Peter Moore. He helped to build up the Center Parcs holiday village chain both in the UK and overseas and now he plans to do the same thing with an adventure resort complex - a ‘Centre Parcs on steroids’, if you like - on a site in south Wales. As I said earlier, it’s all change on the retail and leisure front.
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