Filton Journal

Filton’s recently refurbished Abbey Wood Shopping Park was officially launched yesterday (Thursday 20th March) with a spectacular opening event featuring colourful acts by Bristol-based showmakers and circus connoisseurs Cirque Bijou.

The opening event got under way at midday with an exciting show of theatrical stunts, aerial acrobatics and live music which concluded with the Chair of South Gloucestershire Council, Cllr Ian Boulton, revealing the new Abbey Wood Shopping Park logo. This was followed by a private reception for more than 50 guests from local businesses and stakeholder groups.

Throughout the day, visitors to the park continued to be entertained by stilt-walkers, acrobatic gents, bhangra band RSVP and a slack tight rope walker as well as enjoying free food tasting, competitions, in-store events and cookery demonstrations by Abbey Wood’s retailers.

The new look retail park, which has undergone a £10 million refurbishment and extension, is now home to national brands Asda, Costa Coffee, B&M, Sporting Pro, Frankie & Benny’s, Nando’s, Matalan, Pets at Home, Brantano, Next Clearance, Subway and McDonald’s.

The scheme provides over 600 jobs for the local area and over 400 of these are newly created as a direct result of the redevelopment of the shopping park.

The first collection of new stores opened last autumn and the line-up of new brands completed last month (February) as B&M and Subway opened their doors. The existing and new retailers are already reporting sales well over budgeted expectations, thanks to increased footfall at the site, which is now virtually fully let.

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The latest new stores at the revamped Abbey Wood Shopping Park in Filton are due to open their doors over the next few days.

Major variety retailer, B&M will open tomorrow (Thursday 20th February), followed by national sandwich franchise Subway on Friday 28th February.

This phase of new store openings comes after a collection of major chains opened their doors late last year following a major £10 million refurbishment and extension project.

The park is now home to Asda, Costa Coffee, Sporting Pro, Frankie & Benny’s, Nando’s, Matalan, Pets at Home, Brantano, Next Clearance and McDonald’s.

The 16,000 sq ft B&M store will be the fourth in Bristol, creating a further 60 jobs for the local area. The store will be opened by representatives from St Peter’s Hospice. The charity will receive a £250 gift card donation on the day to mark the start of a new, ongoing relationship with the Filton store.

The new store will offer a wide variety of branded and own label products including groceries and toiletries as well as an extensive non-food section including toys, soft furnishings, home and gardening ranges. It will also have a prominent ‘seasonal department’ which will change throughout the year to bring customers the best offers and latest ranges.

Around ten new jobs will be created at the new Subway franchise, the opening of which brings the total number of Subway restaurants across Bristol to 24.

More: Public invited to Grand Opening event on 20th March »

A FREE Charity Breakfast event held this morning (Wednesday 29th January) at the Frankie and Benny’s restaurant in Abbey Wood, Filton, has raised £800 for Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research.

The event had a great turn out and saw more than 150 people attend, including Cllr Ian Boulton, Chair of South Gloucestershire Council, all helping to support this fantastic cause.

Photo (l-r): Stuart Aldridge (Area Manager, F&B), Ruby Hawley (Marketing Coordinator, F&B ), Cllr Ian Boulton and Dan Gardner (General Manager of Filton Abbey Wood F&B)

Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research is the only UK charity dedicated to improving the lives of patients with all types of blood cancer, including leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma.

The organisation is focused on finding causes, improving diagnosis and treatments, and running ground-breaking clinical trials for all blood cancer patients.

Find out more at: www.leukaemialymphomaresearch.org.uk

Major retailers are now opening their doors at the revitalised Abbey Wood Shopping Park in Filton, Bristol.

The shopping park, which has undergone a £10 million refurbishment and extension, is now home to Asda, Costa Coffee and restaurant chains Frankie & Benny’s and Nando’s.

Sporting Pro, the new sports fascia owned by value fashion chain Matalan and backed by Intersport, will also open its first store in the South West at the park before Christmas.

The development of the park has included redesigning the car park and common areas to create a public realm and developing buildings to provide new community space and leisure facilities.

Frankie & Benny’s opened to the public last month and was followed yesterday (Monday 2nd December) by a new 24-hour Asda store.

Costa Coffee, Nando’s and Sporting Pro will complete this phase of new stores, opening within the next few weeks.

These new shops and restaurants join existing retailers Matalan, Pets at Home, Brantano, Next Clearance and McDonalds.

Further stores that have signed up to the scheme, including a new Subway and other national chains still to be announced, which are expected to open to the public before spring next year.

Ian Cody, Asset Manager, Hermes Real Estate Investment Management Limited (HREIML), commented:

“This is an exciting time for the scheme and we’re looking forward to working with the new and existing shops and restaurants to provide a new shopping and leisure destination for the local community.”

“The area is rapidly developing with new homes, businesses, the university campus and public facilities so it’s important to us that we provide a central location where people can get their groceries, take their pets to the vet, shop for clothes, homeware and come together to socialise.”

“The park has the opportunity to be a local hub and we’re keen to develop that further. The next step will be turning the community space into a doctor’s surgery, post office and library or exercise space – a place that is beneficial to nearby businesses and local residents.”

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