Sector Focus


Retail


Shoppers get a taste of our new dining options


Stephanie Lacey shares news of new lettings at the iconic centre and discusses the importance of creating an experience for customers.


Tony Elvin: Exciting time


New vice chair for Solihull BID


Solihull Business Improvement District (BID) has elected one of the most familiar faces in regional business and hospitality as its new vice chair. Tony Elvin, general manager


at Touchwood, said the BID has plans to make Solihull an ‘even better destination, to bring greater footfall, inclusion and energy to the area’. The BID works alongside


key partners such as Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, West Midlands Police, public transport providers and property owners including Mell Square and Touchwood. BIDs deliver additional


services to those provided by local authority and the police. Mr Elvin, who joined the BID


board in the autumn of 2018, has been general manager at Touchwood since spring of last year. Before this he was Manager of Hotel du Vin in Birmingham city centre. He will work alongside BID


chair Kevin Johns, of Prime Accountants, and BID director Melanie Palmer on various schemes and events intended to raise the profile of the town centre as a shopping, business and visitor destination. “It is fantastic to have been


elected to the vice chair role at Solihull BID, particularly at such a critical time for the town centre and looking ahead to the next BID term elections,” said Mr Elvin. “We’ve got so much we


want to do, so many plans we’re working on to make Solihull an even better destination working with and through our local stakeholders.”


For more information about Solihull BID events and projects visit www.solihullbid.co.uk


82 CHAMBERLINK April 2019


It’s been a busy few months at Bullring & Grand Central. We’ve already welcomed a handful of fantastic new eateries and have just announced that Herman ze German and Kitty Café will be joining the line-up later this spring. Our dining offer at Grand Central


has strengthened further with the addition of @Pizza, which opened in February. The 2,000 sq ft restaurant, which is the second in the Edinburgh-based brand’s portfolio, has an open kitchen and counter service, where customers can choose from a total of 64,000 potential topping combinations and watch their pizza being cooked instantly in front of them. We also welcomed Little Dessert


Shop, a local dessert-specialist, to our LinkStreet mall in February. The eatery offers an extensive menu of delicious brownies, waffles, sundaes, gelatos and chocolate shots, as well as drinks, in a relaxed dining environment. This month German sausage


shop, Herman ze German, will open its first restaurant outside of the capital. Famed for its authentic wurst sausage the brand already has fans across the country and is set to prove popular with our


Retail Therapy


Stephanie Lacey General Manager, Bullring & Grand Central


customers when it opens in the casual dining area of Grand Central. The final eatery to join our line-


up of new openings is Kitty Café. The café will be the perfect spot for any cat lover as it will be home to 30 felines that will interact with customers whilst they grab a drink or some food. The new letting has created a real buzz online with thousands of customers discussing and sharing news of the opening across social media. We continually review our


retailer mix to ensure that we provide an unrivalled shopping experience for our customers. We also understand the importance of


Art gallery expands Mailbox showroom


delivering unique and exciting experiences for customers. One key element of this is our cultural, arts and entertainment event programme for the year, which includes our continued partnership with Birmingham Hippodrome to provide in-centre performances as well as seasonal and retailer events. Last month we hosted The


Festival of Light, a fully immersive and interactive light exhibition in the St Martin’s Balcony and Square area. The 10-day event, which consisted of three light installations and live performances, came to life at night, helping us support evening trade for our restaurants, and to deliver a memorable and unique experience for visitors. As a centre we continue to invest


in our facilities and aim to lead in terms of innovation to ensure we’re providing the best possible experience for shoppers. Over the next few months we


look forward to welcoming new retailers and brands to our tenant mix, as well as delivering a number of seasonal and retailer-led events. As one of the UK’s most visited shopping and dining destinations we are committed to delivering every time a customer steps through our doors.


A fine art gallery has expanded its showroom space at the Mailbox in Birmingham, as the centre confirms continued strong footfall growth for 2018. Castle Fine Art’s new gallery has


moved its showroom into a 6,000 sq ft location, four times its current space. The announcement comes on the


back of a 10 per cent growth in footfall at the Mailbox during the course of 2018. Melanie Taylor, head of retailer


relations at Milligan, owners of the Mailbox, said: “Castle Fine Art’s excellent range of exciting artists and beautiful artworks are perfectly in tune with the Mailbox’s discerning customer base. We’ve enjoyed a wonderful relationship with Castle Fine Art over the past decade and are delighted to support them as they continue to grow their business at the Mailbox. “The Mailbox continues to evolve


A Lorenzo Quinn piece at Castle Fine Art


and deliver what our valued customers want in the 21st century. “We look forward to announcing further exciting additions.”


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