WINNERS 2018
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GOOD EVENING & CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2018 SCEPTRE AWARD WINNERS Congratulations to all the winners and runners-up in this year’s SCEPTRE Awards. The volume and quality of entries was higher than ever this year, so all of the centres listed here can genuinely say they are the best of the best in their field. I’d like to thank my fellow judges for their hard work in evaluating the award entries and supporting material. Their insight and experience has once again proved invaluable and they had to make some hard decisions to choose between very strong shortlists. I’d also like to thank our sponsors, without whom the SCEPTRE Awards could not take place.
Graham Parker Editor, Shopping Centre
3 www.sceptre-awards.co.uk
SECURITY TEAM OF THE YEAR WINNER
FRIARS SQUARE SHOPPING CENTRE AYLESBURY The Friars Square team introduced a new self-motivating motto in 2017, reflecting its commitment to the centre: “Every opportunity needs to be met with enthusiasm and commitment in our aims to improve services.” This creates challenges with opportunities - looking, listening and acting on instinct. The team are ready to take discussions and be motivated to deal with all the different types of issues and demands they face. The Friars Square team recognise their responsibilities in dealing with modern demands. With this commitment, it was decided to rename the security officers as ‘Customer Liaison Officers; immediately demonstrating their versatility and the direction in which they wanted to move forward. However this did not take anything away their aims in delivering the very best service. Team motivation and communication is the key, with the delivery of regular presentations and toolbox talks to the officers helping in the quest for quick results. Information collating on ‘dos and don’ts’ and safety information on how to handle emergencies was introduced, as well as sharing practices with other departments within the centre. The team also work closely with the local police and authorities within the town centre. They introduced new daily tenant care visits to offer advice to tenants, collecting information and creating a good atmosphere. This has become a great success, as well as helping collate data for future improvements. Officers still need to stay focused on their key aims of being a deterrent, a pre-emptor of trouble and a first response in the event of emergency.
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SPONSORED BY
BLUEWATER, KENT CRYSTAL PEAKS, SHEFFIELD
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COMMERCIALISATION INNOVATION OF THE YEAR WINNER
HELEN VINER TOUCHWOOD, SOLIHULL In 2017, Touchwood embarked on an innovative partnership with 50 BA Creative Arts degree students from Solihull College & University Centre, to host a fully immersive and interactive experience that drove centre sales, generated revenue and provided a valuable experience for the students. The successful partnership generated £1,500 in revenue while saving £8,736 in rates and contributing to a +3.1% in centre sales. Work varied extensively in its artistic approach and method, providing guests with intriguing reasons to visit and re-visit, whilst supporting the centre’s ethos of ‘there’s always something happening at Touchwood.” The exhibition was open during trading hours with the occasional late night opening. It was staffed by the students themselves who were able to offer guests in depth and often very personal insights into their work. The exhibition welcomed over 2,800 visitors during the course of the exhibition, with an additional 98 guests attending a private VIP opening night viewing. Industry experts and art enthusiasts were also in attendance, making it the college’s most successful exhibition to date.
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SPONSORED BY
NITA CHAMBERS, BULLRING, BIRMINGHAM DEBORAH HASTINGS, THE ORACLE, READING
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RETAIL LIAISON MANAGEMENT AWARD WINNER
RETAIL LIAISON TEAM WESTFIELD STRATFORD CITY, LONDON The Retail Relations team at Westfield Stratford City have delivered a number of innovative, engaging, time-saving and business-leading initiatives to Westfield’s operations. Adding value, not only for those visiting the centre, but also for the retailers and teams that work alongside them. Through keeping operational excellence and a ‘love what you do’ mentality at the heart of everything they do, the Retail Relations Team are pushing the boundaries of ‘the norm’ to best showcase the flagship brands Westfield Stratford City houses. Experience is key, as are exceptional store standards, operationally equipped retailers and brands that encourage visitors to engage with their products and services. To consistently achieve this vision the Retail Relations Team are driven to ensure retailers get maximum exposure within the asset, from brainstorming ideas to creating interesting opportunities to drive footfall into their units. To further build upon the strong retail community at Westfield Stratford City, the Retail Relations team introduced the Westfield Retailer App to improve retailer to retailer and Centre Management communication, via one central hub. The team transformed and re-designed the software provided by MallComm to include managing store standards and all key holder contacts are available on the go via the Westfield Retailer App. Since the introduction of the Westfield Retailer App the Retail Relations Team have also seen an increase in information provided during turnover collections.
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SPONSORED BY
KELLY TOWNEND, MILL GATE SHOPPING CENTRE, BURY JOHN GREEN, THE BRIDGES SHOPPING CENTRE, SUNDERLAND
destination-space.com
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OPERATIONS MANAGER OF THE YEAR WINNER
STEVE SALISBURY CRYSTAL PEAKS, SHEFFIELD Equipment and processes are only as effective as the operators behind them. To ensure the best possible results from all of Crystal Peak’s initiatives, charity work and marketing promotions, the team that must be motivated, capable and enthusiastic. The team are always the starting point. To achieve this Steve Salusbury provides coaching and mentoring in the workplace and support outside. He ensures that tailored training is delivered by internal and external providers and has developed a robust succession plan to increase resiliency across all departments. Customer service is not just a department – it drives everything the Crystal Peaks team does. Steve understands that to be successful a shopping centre must not limit its customer service provision to the scheme – it must extend out to the local community via charity and local project involvement. He has guided the charity fundraising team and participated in events raising over £11,000 for good causes. Operationally he manages a wide range of maintenance projects around the constraints and restrictions that being based in a residential area poses with regards to noise and working time. Over £2.000 of savings were made by introducing a sustainable solution to road sign replacement and over £4,000 was saved through the procurement of new working equipment. Suppliers are managed fairly and expectations are managed and reviewed via a KPI scoring system and regular meetings. Security has been further strengthened through a new CCTV suite.
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SPONSORED BY
TIERNAN BARRETT, TRINITY WALK, WAKEFIELD STEVEN LYNSKEY, GOLDEN SQUARE, WARRINGTON
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YOUNG ACHIEVER OF THE YEAR WINNER
GEORGIA HILLYARD THE GLADES, BROMLEY Georgia started her career aged 16 working in retail. With French Connection she was quickly promoted to supervisor and while dealing with security issues and working alongside the police Georgia realised she was especially interested in security operations. She passed her security CCTV and Door licences and aged 21 was successful in her appointment to CCTV Controller at The Glades. During 18 months as a controller, Georgia demonstrated her ability to lead large teams with her outstanding communication skills. This earnt her a promotion to Security Supervisor by the age of 22. Aged 23 following a brief time as cleaning manager learning a new side of the business, Georgia then took on all mall security, managing a team of 25 guards. Her success in this role meant that Georgia’s remit also encompassed the CCTV control room and car parks. By the age of 27 Georgia had been promoted to the role of Guest Services Manager with overall responsibility for all soft services – a combined workforce of 50+ with budgets of over £2m. Most recently Georgia was successfully promoted to Facilities Manager leading all hard and soft services, taking her team size to 60+ and budgets of over £3m making her the most senior manager in the Interserve centre team. Georgia has applied herself to learn a whole new skill set, and proven in recent technical audits with dramatically improved results in 2018 vs 2017. Her infectious energy, hard work and natural ability with people has marked out Georgia as a future centre manager.
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SPONSORED BY
LISA JACKSON, INTU JADE WILKIE, THE FORGE SHOPPING CENTRE
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SHORT-TERM RETAILER OF THE YEAR WINNER
SHEPHERD NEAME BLUEWATER, KENT The Shepherd Neame Bluewater pop-up store was conceived as part of Bluewater’s Calendar Moment programme to activate a shop unit with a great local brand and offer a unique experience for fathers in the run-up to Father’s Day. Shepherd Neame, Britain’s oldest brewer, was keen to use the pop-up as a launchpad for two new products and to create a brand experience reflective of its roots and brewing process. In conjunction with the centre’s environmental policies, raw materials such as hops, malt and apples were introduced along with existing fixtures and props such as barrels, a cider press and traditional wooden crates filled with hops suspended from the ceiling, creating an immersive experience, bringing the sites smells and tastes of the brewery to Bluewater. To further immerse customers in the world of brewing a pioneering ‘hops 360’ virtual reality tool was created allowing guests to take a virtual tour of a hop garden. Each guest was also invited to enter a prize draw for the chance to win beer for a year and Shepherd Neame collaborated with the Bluewater marketing team to offering prize giveaway for fathers day. The final result was a shop used for educational experiences, tastings and food matching events and as a venue for drinks writers and trade press to sample new products. The store exceeded its sales targets by 204% and it also far exceeded other objectives. The fact that the pop-up shop was featured in Retail Week as Shop of the Week is demonstrative of its huge success.
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SPONSORED BY
CHAPEL DOWN, BLUEWATER, KENT THE CBD SHOP, CASTLECOURT, BELFAST
9 www.sceptre-awards.co.uk
ENERGY MANAGEMENT AWARD WINNER
STEVEN FOSTER WHITE ROSE SHOPPING CENTRE, LEEDS 2017 was a game-changing year for White Rose shopping centre in Leeds with a focus on energy management and sustainability. In August 2017 the centre unveiled the installation of the biggest photovoltaic system on a retail site in the UK. The roof installation will generate 68,000 kWh of power a year, enough electricity to power over 200 UK homes for 12 months. The PV will supply 39% of the daytime electricity used in the mail areas of the centre. In its first year, the system will reduce carbon emissions at White Rose by 250 tonnes; equivalent of over half a million miles of passenger car emissions. It consists of 2,902 individual panels, each of which measures 1.6 sq m. The PV will maximise on-site renewable energy generation, reduce electricity consumption from the grid and deliver significant financial benefits to retailers based at White Rose. It forms a key part of the ongoing sustainability strategy at the centre, which includes a comprehensive bio-diversity programme alongside energy efficiency measures and a focus on reducing food waste – an anaerobic food digester has been in operation for over two years and has reduced over 100 tons to water during 2017. White Rose is committed to sustainability and continually aims to reduce the carbon footprint and to enhance a positive impact on the environment and local community. Other 2017 initiatives have included the roll out of LED lighting throughout the centre and car park.
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SPONSORED BY
MARTYN HAFTOWSKI, CWMBRAN CENTRE, CWMBRAN VALERIE JOHNSON, ST MARKS SHOPPING CENTRE, LINCOLN
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WASTE MANAGEMENT AWARD WINNER
THE BRUNEL SWINDON The Brunel has embraced the need for recycling waste and has been working towards improving segregation of rubbish in order to recycle more. In June 2017 diversion from landfill stood at 85% of waste. By January 2018 this had risen to 95%, and by April 2018 reached 97%. The centre now has 16 single-source recycling streams which are either baled on site or collected by a dedicated vehicle. Despite the launch of a food hall last year, the centre has increased on-site segregation by 24% year-on-year. Working with the marketing team, the Brunel created its own branding for waste management which has been used to train to all store managers in what can be recycled and way to dispose of it. This included the introduction of a regular waste and recycling newsletter which updates tenants on recycling figures. Any tenants not following the recycling policies and procedures are fined. The Brunel has invested in additional recycling cages and purchased two extra balers. An innovative bespoke bench segregates steel and aluminium cans and the centre is now purchasing a piercing machine to enable pressurised cans to be recycled. The centre engaged local primary schools, offering education in recycling and upcycling. Visits are well attended and include litter picking with the local council’s cleaning teams. Schools have run competitions to make Christmas decorations from upcycled items.
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SPONSORED BY
CABOT CIRCUS, BRISTOL GUNWHARF QUAYS, PORTSMOUTH
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MARKETING MANAGER OF THE YEAR WINNER
LAUREN CAMPBELL VICTORIA SQUARE, BELFAST Lauren Campbell is a passionate marketing professional with over a decade’s experience in the marketing sector and six years spent as marketing manager at Victoria Square. Highlights of 2017 include bringing full marketing function in-house as well being the most successful year since opening for marketing events in terms of footfall, sales, retailer participation and customer engagement. It is Lauren’s mission to foster a customer-oriented culture which is committed to enhancing the visitor experience. She is passionate about giving customers a reason to choose Victoria Square and delivers this vision by constantly reinventing the offer through mall dressing, innovative campaigns and engaging events. These have included a four week Discover our Museum installation to give back to the local community with a strong regional press engagement as well as the largest ever student event in 2017 and the largest ever Christmas light switch-on in 2017. Strategic community partnerships including Belfast Photo Festival and the Belfast Festival of Fools. The 10th anniversary campaign majored on how proud of the centre its customers are and how Victoria Square has become an iconic symbol of the new Belfast. This campaign provoked emotion and embodied the customers’ perception of the centre.
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SPONSORED BY
LUCY BURNETT, TOUCHWOOD, SOLIHULL SAMANTHA CZWORDON, THE BRIDGES SHOPPING CENTRE, SUNDERLAND
12 www.sceptre-awards.co.uk
CUSTOMER SERVICE TEAM OF THE YEAR WINNER
THE GLADES BROMLEY The Glades guest services team always provided a good, professional service to customers‌but for several years it was largely unchanged. Processes, accessibility and services needed to be updated to fit with the ever-increasing demands of customers and a better understanding of the Purple Pound. The Glades’ general manager asked the guest services team to embrace huge changes to tackle this, including relocating Shopmobility and removing the traditional Guest Services desk. Shopmobility was successfully moved from a dark car park office to the top floor with plenty of natural light, twice as many lifts, two disabled toilets, baby change facilities and numerous disabled parking spaces. Removing the desk was a bigger challenge for the team. It was identified as forming a barrier between the team and customers, something they had become accustomed to. The old desk was removed in November 2017 and replaced with a much smaller, more open trial desk at peak trade.
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SPONSORED BY
CRYSTAL PEAKS, SHEFFIELD BLUEWATER, KENT
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MALL TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION OF THE YEAR WINNER
HAMMERSON ENGAGE Consumer engagement has never been easier and more integrated, but this ease of use has not been widely applied to B2B tools in the workplace. Following a series of research and focus groups, Hammerson recognised the need for agencies, brands and retail start-ups to have a better client experience when booking mall space. The result was the launch of www.hammersonengage.com. The portal provides a front end to the industry-leading platform Hammerson has developed over the past five years. Within seconds B2B customers can now access information 24/7 on all Hammerson’s centres including demographics, site plans, photography, contact details and pricing – a level of transparency unprecedented in the industry. With the majority of brands cutting staff resources, this has proved crucial in making booking decisions fall in favour of Hammerson. Consumers have benefited from a much wider range of in-mall activity, and in a competitive market this gives a clear reason for customers to choose Hammerson’s centres. For the first time ever, Hammerson’s 2017 customer exit surveys recorded customers noticing commercialisation activities and commenting on their quality. Bookings from the system in year one totalled £190,720, paying back the investment in five months. For the first time brand enquiries have been received from Italy, Denmark and the USA.
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SPONSORED BY
ITVET (RETAIL REPORT) THE PARTNER TUFF SYSTEM, ORCHARD SHOPPING CENTRE, TAUNTON
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ALL IRELAND CENTRE MANAGER OF THE YEAR WINNER
MICHELLE GREEVES VICTORIA SQUARE, BELFAST A retailer of 28 years’ experience, Michelle recognises that delivering world-class customer service to Victoria Square’s brands and customers is at the heart of the centre team does. She makes sure that the entire team is recognised for excellence, supported with training to support to their needs. Victoria Square ‘s success is built on great people coming together, creating memorable experiences. Measurement of engagement is essential to grow through: visiting the brands in their stores weekly, by monthly meetings with 85% attendance, and better collaboration and engagement in events. Customer engagement is key because Victoria Square is a destination. Michelle is passionate about giving loyal customers a reason to choose Victoria Square. The robust retail events calendar generates an ROI of 340%, catering for families schools and additional-needs customers. For example the four-week Discover our Museum installation, offering workshops in partnership with a local museum, increased dwelltime by 6.3% and generated an ROI of 1,791%. The Christmas light switch-on attracting 48,000 visitors against 4,500 at the city centre event. A key strategy has been to maximise the growing Tourism and spend which has grown from 7 to 10%, offsetting the declining Northern Irish spend. To celebrate the centre’s 10th birthday, a month-long calendar of events showed how Michelle brought the team, customers, stakeholders, charities and community together.
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SPONSORED BY
IAN HUNTER, PAVILIONS SHOPPING CENTRE, SWORDS PETER DOLAN, SCOTCH HALL, DROGHEDA
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CENTRE MANAGER OF THE YEAR AT A SMALL CENTRE WINNER
CYRUS ANNAN WEST ONE SHOPPING CENTRE, LONDON Cyrus Annan was thrown in at the deep end at West One shopping centre, located on Oxford street with an annual average footfall of about 22 million. His first day on the job as Centre Manager on May 15 2017 was also Day 1 of a major £4m refurbishment at the centre. Cyrus had to ensure the centre opened its doors complying with health & safety legislation while also increasing revenue profit and performance of the centre during the seven-month refurbishment. With only one assistant, Cyrus outperformed by ensuring zero health and safety violations and incidents while building relationships and attending late night forums with key stakeholders like residents, TfL and Crossrail. Tina Hartland Swann, a local representative of the residents commented: “Never on any day did we feel we lived next to a development site. Our expectations were managed in a special way”. Cyrus appraised the 17/18 budget and negotiated reductions on security budget by 10.3% while securing an extra 24 hours of manning levels and paying London Living wage rates. Additionally, he negotiated a 1.3% reduction on the cleaning budget. Cyrus led a rigorous tender process for the centre, singularly writing the specifications for all services (M&E, security, cleaning, office reception and waste). New appointments have been made and best value for money have been achieved. Cyrus worked very closely with the client’s leasing agents, gathering and analysing trade intelligence and data from retailers each week and communicating market trends.
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SPONSORED BY
DEAN CROSS, WATERSIDE, LINCOLN STEVE ANDREWS, THE HILDREDS, SKEGNESS
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CENTRE MANAGER OF THE YEAR AT A MEDIUM CENTRE WINNER
LYNETTE HOWGATE MIDDLETON SHOPPING CENTRE, MANCHESTER Lynette is an energetic centre manager with an absolute passion and dedication to her role at Middleton shopping centre. Having only taken up the post in 2106, Lynette’s spirited and hands-on approach has led to some outstanding results in a short space of time. Most notably, footfall is up 6.5%, car park usage up 9% and the purchase rate is up from 90 to 92% Equally, 11 lettings have been achieved in the past 12 months including a 33,000-sq ft gym. Lynnette has transformed talent relations at the centre starting from a 10% turnout at tenant meetings, at best, at least 85% of tents now attend. Lynnette has been proactive and flexible in her approach to achieve this, allowing retailers the opportunity to attend at different times. A retailer intranet system has been created enabling much more effective communication while also being paper-free. Lynnette visits units on a daily basis to speak to tenants face-to-face. 100% of Centre waste has now been diverted from landfill, saving 142,470 kg of carbon. Lynette’s fun-loving yet professional approach means she has an excellent rapport with all tenants, staff and customers. She regularly gets involved in centre events, dressing up as a zombie for Halloween and handing out sweets to kids in the mall. Community relations have also been improved. Lynette is in an active supporter of the Lighthouse Project charity, persuading the landlord to provide them with the unit, and raising almost £4,500 through centre events and activities.
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SPONSORED BY
ROWLAND PARRY, STRAND SHOPPING CENTRE, BOOTLE LEE APPLETON, THE RIDINGS, WAKEFIELD
17 www.sceptre-awards.co.uk
CENTRE MANAGER OF THE YEAR AT A LARGE CENTRE WINNER
MARK HAYNES COUNTY MALL, CRAWLEY County Mall extends to 480,000 sq ft and is home to 84 stores anchored by Debenhams, Primark, Next and Boots. 2017 was an exciting year for Mark and the team, celebrating the centre’s 25th anniversary with pride. Mark has focussed on enhancing customer experience and customer service, attracting 8 million visitors and maintaining YOY footfall levels +0.1% outperforming the the national average, driving car park income up by +2.77% YOY and increasing dwell time by +21% YOY. Mark has worked closely with the marketing team to reposition the centre’s perception in key targeted locations since the opening of new stores including Hotel Chocolat, Paperchase, DFS and Italian Kitchen, driving +2.3% YOY additional footfall from targeted affluent areas, increasing average spend by +29% and increasing circulation to combat void space with strategic marketing campaigns. Mark prides himself on building relationships and making daily store visits to meet and talk with retailers and anchor tenants to understand their business needs and performance. With 71% of the retailers open to feeding back monthly sales data it’s evident Mark is a centre manager they can relate to and trust. Working alongside the asset manager and leasing team, Mark has helped to deliver three store refits, two store upscales this year with most seeing double digit growth. The void rate remains low at 3.5%. Mark is an integral member of the town and community. Chairing the Town Centre Partnership and initiating the feasibility of a BID, Mark has an influential stance in Crawley and uses his position to place County Mall at the heart of Crawley.
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SPONSORED BY
KATE MILLER, THE GLADES, BROMLEY LIAM SMITH, FORT KINNAIRD, EDINBURGH
18 www.sceptre-awards.co.uk
THE SCEPTRE GRAND PRIX WINNER
WORKMAN The SCEPTRE Grand Prix is awarded to the managing agent or owner that has achieved the highest aggregate score from the judges across all the winning and highly commended entries.
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SPONSORED BY
JLL LANDSEC
19 www.sceptre-awards.co.uk