Shopping centre owners launch Dragon’s Den-style competition to find next retail breakout star
Revo, the organisation that represents the retail community, has launched a new competition to find budding entrepreneurs in retail. Winners will be given free space in the shopping centre and help with marketing their concept.
Hatch by Revo is backed by some of the biggest names in retail property, including Landsec, Hammerson, Westfield, M&G Real Estate, Harcourt and Ellandi. Together, with the British Independent Retailers Association, they will run a Dragon’s Den style competition offering free space and expert marketing advice in their retail places to up-and-coming retail businesses.
The competition will run for two months, with winners announced in May. The exact offer varies from location to location, but all winners will benefit from win free rent, with business rates and service charges covered too. They will also receive professional marketing and business support to help promote their concept and a year’s free bira membership, which includes a unique retail insurance scheme, card processing, free legal advice and preferential banking rates.
Current locations include Westfield Stratford City in London, St David’s Dewi Sant in Cardiff, Silverburn in Glasgow, The Galleries in Tyne & Wear, Parkway Shopping Centre in Limerick, Republic of Ireland and Bloomfields in County Down, Northern Ireland.
Samantha Sen, Head of Policy and Campaigns at Revo, said: “Small businesses are the backbone of the British economy and a source of great creativity and innovation. We believe that the retail success stories of tomorrow will come from today’s pop-up shops, kiosks, and e-tailers as dozens of brands and chains we now know and love have proven. Innocent Drinks for example started as a stall at a music festival.”
