It’s beginning to look a lot like outlet at Princes Quay

The UK’s first full-price/outlet hybrid centre, Princes Quay, re-launches.

Princes Quay, the 300,000-sq ft retail and leisure destination in the heart of Hull city centre, has re-launched with a new outlet level which sees national retailer, Next Outlet, open its doors to the public.

As part of the first phase of the £20m investment into the centre, the 12,000-sq ft Next Outlet store will anchor the new outlet deck, which re-opened its doors to the public on Thursday 22 June. The opening saw queues of people down the mall. Footfall over the first four days of trading was up 75 per cent on the same days last year.

The strategic repositioning of the centre has introduced space for 24 new retailers and, at 65 per cent let is already set to welcome names including Ben Sherman, Sole Trader and Bench – all new retailers to Hull city centre. The critical mass of outlet space will span 51,000 sq ft across the upper level of the scheme, complimenting the existing full-price provision with the likes of Topshop, River Island, Beaverbrooks, and Monsoon in place.

The re-launch is the first phase in an extensive repositioning project at Princes Quay, creating a new urban concept, combining the existing retail and leisure offer with a new outlet deck and has been brought about by fund managers, Seven Dials and Realm, as asset and development managers.

In addition to the new outlet retailers, Realm is establishing a new waterfront-dining hub on the Harbour Deck, with space for seven additional restaurant and café units across 18,000 sq ft. These will sit alongside existing dining brands including Pizza Express and Nando’s.

Realm managing director Colin Brooks said: “The introduction of an outlet provision into an existing city centre scheme is a first for the UK. Next, as anchor tenant for the outlet deck, has set the tone for the other retailers who have since taken space, with more lettings announcements expected in the near future.

“By combining outlet with full price, we are able to attract new and exciting brands to Hull, which may have otherwise not considered the city. We expect the outlet level to be 85 per cent let by Christmas. This, when combined with the increased dining provision, will create an additional footfall draw – we have already seen a high level of interest from locals and expect to see footfall numbers increase over the coming months as more and more outlet retailers open.”