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[UPDATED] Strategic property consultancy Rapleys has announced its retail team has been retained as agents by London Stansted Airport, part of Manchester Airports Group (MAG), as retail partner and brand consultants on its upcoming expansion.

The team, who joined Rapleys earlier this year, are tasked with helping the airport’s transformational development and shaping an occupier strategy that will enhance customer experience and offer huge retail and leisure opportunities for brands at the same time.

“Stansted Airport is a hugely popular location, serving record numbers of passengers year on year,” said Dan Kent, Head of Retail at Rapleys.

“We are working on a transformational and innovative occupier strategy for the extension with MAG which offers huge opportunities for brands that want to be front and centre of the customer experience and reap the rewards of being part of Europe’s busiest single terminal within the next seven years.

“We are already in discussions with some really exciting brands and look forward to sharing news on the future of retail and hospitality at Stansted in due course.”

Existing retail brands at Stansted include Rituals, Accessorize, Fat Face and Lego with F&B from leading names including Bottega, Comptoir Libanais and Leon. It is expected that multiple new brands will be welcomed as part of the extension.

The expansion will deliver an extra 177,604 sqft (16,500 sqm) of commercial space costing £700m as part of an overall investment programme by MAG.

The transformation means the airport is set to become the busiest, single runway, one terminal airport in Europe, serving 43 million passengers annually by 2032.

Furthermore, on 9 June, London Stansted announced it has submitted a planning application to Uttlesford District Council to increase its annual passenger limit up to 51 million over the next 20 years.

“We’re delighted to be working with Rapleys as our retail and brand consultancy partner for the next phase of our terminal transformation,” said Stephen Martin, Retail Director at London Stansted.

“Their expertise, energy and ability to unlock opportunities make them a great fit to help shape and deliver our retail strategy.

“With month-on-month passenger growth over the past three years, record-breaking performance and our existing partners seeing exceptional sales, this is a major growth opportunity for both established and new-to-airport travel retailers. London Stansted is currently undergoing a £1.1 billion transformation to upgrade and expand our facilities, including a major terminal extension.”

Retail advisory Rapleys has expanded its team significantly with the acquisition of the former Avison Young retail team in April this year.

The move saw Dan Kent become Equity Partner and Head of Retail with Scott Mitchell and Rob Fraser both joining as Partners, Lewis Sinclair as Associate Director, Ella Traynor as Senior Surveyor and Rian Dunne as Surveyor.

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