United Kingdom

As the Kingdom shopping centre in Glenrothes is set for expansion, Claire Elliott takes a look at what makes the centre such a success

Published: 01 July, 2007

Page 12

With an increasing number of houses being built in Glenrothes to cater for the ever-growing population, the town's Kingdom shopping centre, owned by CIS, is keeping up with the times with plans for major expansion works.

Currently awaiting planning permission from Fife Council, the plans will be the fifth phase in the development of the Kingdom centre, which has existed as Glenrothes town centre since 1963.

Back then the development consisted of only Albany Gate, Lyon Square and Postgate. In 1974, Lyon Way was developed as Phase 2; Phase 3 included the development of Unicorn Way and Unicorn Square, which opened in 1992; and Phase 4, which incorporated the theatre and library, was completed in 1993. The centre currently extends to approximately 460,000 sq ft of retail space, which makes it one of the largest enclosed shopping centres in Scotland, attracting 200,000 visitors each week.

Marketing manager Anna Pringle, a finalist in the SCEPTRE Awards' marketing manager of the year award, explains that CIS has owned the scheme from the very beginning. "CIS has really grown with the town," she says, "and that's what the next phase is all about as well.

"Edinburgh has kind of grown and become more expensive for people to live in, especially for families, so the communter area is growing and in Glenrothes they can buy nice family homes."

Currently the centre attracts C1, C2 and D adults with quite a wide age range, but Pringle explains that with Glenrothes being in the commuter belt, it is attracting an increasing number of ABC1s. "There are a lot of new houses being built," she says. "There are lovely new houses in the surrounding area and the price is going up dramatically as well."

Plans include the development of the old Co-op department store to introduce new retail units, a new anchor unit and an allowance for leisure as well. Some of the existing vacant units within the centre will be remodelled into one modernised unit to appeal to the national brands which are keen to have representation in the town. And a new 65,000 sq ft Sainsbury's unit is going to be added on, along with six new retail units which will occupy a total space of 60,000 sq ft, all on the site of an existing office block, which will be knocked down. In addition there are plans to create a new space for another department store at the top end of the scheme near the theatre and there are plans to double the number of car parking spaces available from 1,500 to 3,000.

"We should hear back imminently," says Pringle, who hopes that if the plans are approved work should start on site in February 2008, with completion in 2010.

"Major retailers have wanted to come in for a while," she adds. "There will be a mixture of retailers coming into the town but I think most of them will be fashion-led. We're looking at national names, the idea being to raise the profile of the centre. With the growing ABC1 population it's about bringing in shops that will appeal to them as well.

"We're also looking to expand the catchment to make us the primary shopping centre in Fife, so we can compete with the likes of Dundee and Edinburgh.

"Kirkcaldy and Dunfermline are our main competition, but the development will set us apart from anything else in the area. We will certainly be the largest centre.

"At the moment we're a convenience shopping centre. If people are wanting something special they'll go to Dundee or Edinburgh. We can't compete with that at the moment but we hope this development will change that."

With the centre forming the whole of Glenrothes town centre, it's important for it to have a large community focus and corporate social responsibility, with a huge emphasis on community safety, health and social inclusion. This has made it possible for the centre to become the first business in Scotland to get the Community Mark Award from Business in the Community.

For community safety, the centre sponsors the wages for an additional police officer for the centre and a dedicated crime unit on-site. "We had one already, provided by the police," says Pringle. "We just felt that because of the size of the centre we needed an additional officer. Not because of a problem with crime, but to provide retailers with information.

"That's in addition to security from Andron. They work together really well. We have a banning system that works successfully in conjunction with Fife police. Once a year the police and security team work out who should be banned."

Since introducing the second officer and the on-site crime unit, the centre has seen significant reductions in crime: over 28 per cent in the first year, and 42 per cent after two years.

"Everyone knows our officers, Matt and Paul. They make a big difference and because they're here day in day out, they actually care," says Pringle.

The centre has also just established a database that the police will run on-site to share information with all the retailers and vice versa, and this in turns gets fed to the central database.

In terms of community involvement, the centre has recently sponsored a five-a-side league for 12- to 16-year-olds, which will run during the summer holidays, and hopefully beyond, to improve the night-time economy of the town. It also works closely with schools and recently held a 'Glenrothes Has Got Talent' competition where talented pupils from various schools competed in the mall to win prizes donated by the centre and its retailers. Every competing child also walked away with a gift.

The Kingdom centre works closely with the NHS, and in January 2006 it set up the Well Person Shop, which is open in the mall every Thursday and is run by the NHS. The shop is available to carry out health checks and to answer any health-related queries shoppers may have.

"It's also a relaxed and informal place for people to come if they have niggly things they don't want to bother their doctor with," says Pringle. "It's been really, really successful. We received the BUPA Healthy Communities Award this and last year for the Well Person Shop."

The centre also runs a child safety scheme known as the Kingsley Club, in partnership with the police, while all the centre's staff are trained to support people with disablilities.

Pringle says the centre is also very environmentally friendly. Both toilet facilities have water management systems, the multi-storey car park has energy saving light bulbs and all the cleaning materials used are non-toxic. Meanwhile, the retailers themselves separate their cardboard from their waste to landfill, but it is hoped a new waste management system, installed recently by EWSL, will increase the level of recycling on-site. Additionally, customers are encouraged to do their bit with the introduction of recycling bins at 10 sites on the malls last October.

With the centre beating off stiff competition last year from Dundee city centre and Braehead shopping centre to be awarded the Shopping Location of the Year in Scotland, it appears the Kingdom is going from strength to strength.