Retail & Leisure News

Three new deals secured by FHP Property Consultants will see tenants The Nerd Hut, Retro Realm and Attic in the Moon move into the Sailmakers Shopping Centre in Ipswich. The new tenants will add vitality and bring alternative culture to the scheme, which has flourished since the new ownership in 2022.

The trio of businesses are relocating from the Microshops start-up hub on the other side of the town, following a period of expansion.

Gaming and comics company The Nerd Hut has secured Unit 24, while nostalgia games brand Retro Realm and enchanting gift shop The Attic in the Moon are jointly moving into the combined Units 25 and 26. Meanwhile, The Windrush Society is relocating within the centre, into a unit that’s more than double the size of its previous home.

The centre is on the up, since being bought by Nottingham-based developer ALB Group last year.

Since then, a host of new businesses have flocked to the site, including Harry’s Handcrafted Doughnuts, health and beauty brand Bodycare, health food shop The Vitamin Bar, fashion brand Leading Labels, beauty salon Brows on Fleek and phone retailer Mi Mobile.

Bridie Burn, owner of The Nerd Hut, ran her business online for a year and spent two years at Microshops, before signing up for a unit at Sailmakers – taking her business to the next level.

The 26-year-old said: “I think it’s fantastic, what has been happening at Sailmakers.

There was a period where that shopping centre was considered quite an uninviting area and to see how much it’s evolved is really exciting.

Moving there will enable me to expand the range of stock and we can offer more gaming events, and hopefully take on more staff in the future.”

Lena King, who runs The Attic in the Moon, is moving into a unit alongside Scott Brand, of Retro Realm.

Lena said: “We’re both really excited. It’s going to allow our businesses to expand and to move onto the next stage, which is what we always wanted.”

Scott, who is known as Sega Zombie on Youtube, added: “We’re both from Ipswich and want to make the town centre great again.”

Arran Bailey, managing director of ALB Group, said: “It’s fantastic to see more and more operators coming into Sailmakers, filling empty units and adding more and more of a buzz to the centre.

It’s testament to the hard work by not just ourselves, but also our property agents, and the existing businesses, who have transformed Sailmakers into a thriving shopping centre and somewhere people actually want to shop at.”

More than half a million people visited the shopping centre during December, which represents a 54 per cent increase on the previous year’s figure of 331,692. And figures for the whole of last year indicate a massive 66 per cent jump in visitor numbers compared with 2021.

The modern, well-maintained 133,000 sq ft covered centre, situated in the heart of Ipswich, is already home to a number of well-known brands, including River Island, Pandora and Boots.

Of its 32 units, there remain just two to let on the first floor and one on the ground floor.

Oliver Marshall, a director at FHP, said: “The new ownership has created a thriving environment for the tenants within, and it’s encouraging to see tenants see this and want to be part of the centre.

We would encourage any other tenants, whether that be independent, regional or national, to get in touch to discuss leasing the remaining units.”

Anyone interested in taking up space at Sailmakers can call Oliver on 07887 787 885 or email oliver@fhp.co.uk.

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