Posts Tagged ‘retail space’

THE MALL LUTON ANNOUNCES THAT INANNA HAS MADE ITS MARK IN RETAIL

Friday, April 16th, 2010

mym-inanna-015The Mall Luton has today announced that Inanna from Radlett has been crowned Luton’s winner of the Make Your Mark in Retail competition, sponsored by NatWest, and is through to the national finals that will see one winner awarded with a business start-up prize worth more than £15,000.

Inanna, a soap and jewellery business run by Mohammad Malkawi, was selected as a result of its indisputable attention to customer care, high sales figures, growth aspirations and strong passion for their product - Syrian soap and jewellery. Less than a year ago Mohammed found the beautiful Syrian soap in France that he was unable to find for sale anywhere in the UK, so he travelled to Aleppo, Syria to see if he could import it directly. He arrived back with authentic olive and laurel soap, plus samples of beautiful jewellery that he had found locally and began trading as Inanna. Since then, he has sourced it, imported it, retailed it and has now earned himself the opportunity of a lifetime.

The brain behind the business is 32 year old Mohammad Malkawi from Radlett. He comments, “I’m delighted to have been selected as Luton’s winner, and am proud to be representing the town in this national contest. I’ve always wanted to launch my own business and this competition provided me with the ideal opportunity to give that dream a shot, and the good news is it seems to be going down well.”

The competition, which runs across 19 shopping centres nationwide, has really caught the imagination of the public with well over 120 entries made UK-wide.

Lavinia Holland, Marketing Manager at The Mall Luton comments: “This year we’ve seen some really strong applicants which has been a real pleasure and a positive sign for the future retail market. Now we’ve all got to get behind Inanna as they go for national glory; we’re keeping our fingers firmly crossed that in May they will prove victorious for Luton.”

NatWest, sponsors of the Make Your Mark in Retail competition, will be offering business support and banking advice to Inanna on account of winning the regional heat. Chris Harvey, Director of NatWest Branch Business Banking says, “This competition is a great opportunity for businesses and entrepreneurs to get their business idea underway or move it forward. We congratulate Mohammed on his achievement and wish him the best for the national judging. ”

Judging for the final winner of the Make Your Mark in Retail competition will take place on April 27th 2010.

NOTE TO EDITORS:

The competition enables entrants the opportunity to test their business on a Retail Merchandising Unit (RMU) and the outstanding candidate is rewarded with a ‘retail start up package’ that includes:

• Six months rent free trading on an RMU
• Hands on support from The Mall
• A business mentor from NatWest; a member of the Royal Bank of Scotland
• A place at the British Shops & Stores Association Summer School at Keble College Oxford
• A place at the National Skills Academy Retail Masterclass

The Mall is the UK’s leading community shopping centre Fund. Managed by Capital & Regional and Aviva Investors, The Mall Fund owns 17 shopping centres across the UK - home to 2,000 retail units and attracting approximately 3.3 million shopping visits every week.

www.themall.co.uk – Shopping as it should be…

This press release has been written and distributed by Flowing Ink. For more information contact Danielle Tarren at Danielle@flowingink.co.uk.

www.flowingink.co.uk

Ref: TMLMR/020

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SUGAR AND SPICE AND ALL THINGS NICE - THAT’S WHAT PLUMBUN’S CAKES ARE MADE OF.

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

make-your-mark-plumbun-010For Lutonian cake-maker Lois Lawrence there is no such thing as just one more slice! Lois is the owner of Plumbun, a company that creates and sells sumptuous cupcakes and cakes – and she is the fourth local finalist from The Mall Luton in the national Make Your Mark in Retail competition.

Plumbun has already set up shop in a retail merchandising unit (RMU) in the shopping centre to compete for a place in the finals of this national competition. Over the two week test-trading period Plumbun will be judged on their customer service, sales performance and retailing skills. If Lois gets through this local round, she could be in with a chance of winning a top prize worth over £15,000, including six months free RMU trading space in The Mall Luton and a place at an internationally renowned retail summer school.

Inspired by her mother who was a head cook and who taught Lois to bake from a very early age, Lois has created her own range of recipes; tweaking and enhancing old favourites, as well as creating new ideas, and fulfilling specific requests from clients.

Having run a general catering business in London, Lois moved back to Luton three and a half years ago having gradually realised that her passion was for baking. So, with marketing support from her daughter Corinne O’Sullivan, Plumbun was born and Lois started to concentrate on creating the cakes and buns that have already built her a fine reputation.

Plumbun started selling at music and community festivals, but the business has grown through recommendations and referrals. “Being in The Mall Luton has already surpassed my expectation. Adding to the excitement of being in this competition, I have received eight orders for celebration cakes and cup-cake towers for birthdays in the last two days alone – which is wonderful.” Lois explains, “It has been brilliant to test my cakes with a larger audience, and I am just delighted that people in Luton have been so supportive and are interested in my products.”

The competition has enabled Lois to recruit her very first member of staff - a local catering student - and Lois is also looking forward to building a solid customer base in the area and moving into local farmers markets. In the future, Lois would love to open a glorious Plumbun store in Luton.

All of Plumbun’s products are free from artificial flavourings, colourings and preservatives and some ingredients, such as eggs, are sourced from local farms. Lois is confident that customers will be able to actually taste the quality and freshness, ensuring that her range will stand out from run-of-the-mill commercially produced cakes.

The three other finalists from The Mall Luton are: Urban Jewellery, Humbers Homemade and Inanna. The winning finalist from Luton will be announced on the 13th April 2010.

Ends

Notes to Editors:

For high resolution versions of the image above, contact Danielle at flowing Ink on 01582 487223 or email Danielle@flowingink.co.uk.

Make Your Mark in Retail 2010
The Make your Mark in Retail competition gives entrants the opportunity to test their business on a Retail Merchandising Unit (RMU) and the outstanding candidate is rewarded a ‘retail start up package’ that includes:
• Six months rent free trading on an RMU
• Hands on support from The Mall
• A business mentor from NatWest
• A place at the British Shops & Stores Association Summer School at Keble College Oxford
• A place at the National Skills Academy Retail Master class

The Mall

The Mall is the leading owner and operator of community shopping centres in the UK. The Mall currently owns 18 shopping malls throughout the UK and sees around 4 million shopping visits a week.

The Mall, Luton houses over 120 retailers and sits in the heart of the town centre in Luton. The £20m redevelopment of The Mall Luton, due to end autumn 2010, is currently taking place to remodel the St. George’s Square end of the centre. The redevelopment will provide over 75,000 sq ft of high-quality new shopping, with cafes and restaurants opening onto the recently redeveloped square.
The Mall is committed to Luton as a major destination and is confident this development will provide the best possible shopping experience and has already secured TK Maxx as an anchor tenant in this new development.

www.themall.co.uk – Shopping as it should be…

This press release has been written and distributed by Flowing Ink. For more information contact Danielle Tarren at Danielle@flowingink.co.uk.

www.flowingink.co.uk

Ref: TMLMR/018

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THE CLOCK IS TICKING. DON’T MISS THE OPPORTUNITY TO WIN FREE RETAIL SPACE AT THE MALL LUTON

Friday, February 5th, 2010

mall-luton-logoThe deadline of 14 February 2010 for the Make Your Mark in Retail competition is fast approaching, and The Mall Luton is encouraging small businesses and budding entrepreneurs to submit their entries as soon as possible. With a top prize worth over £15,000, including six month’s rent-free retail space, one national winner could expand their business, or get it off the ground, with virtually no out-goings.

The competition is the perfect opportunity for entrepreneurs with new products to sell, retailers who want to test their sales strategies with consumers before opening a shop, or small businesses that want to expand. In addition to prime trading space, the winner will receive free business banking for two years, access to a business relationship manager for advice about financial decisions, a free place on the National Skills Academy Retail Masterclass, and a free place on the exclusive BSSA Oxford Summer School which is always fully booked and operates an extensive waiting list.

Make Your Mark in Retail is part of a national competition organised in partnership with Natwest, Enterprise UK and The National Skills Academy. It was first launched in November 2007 to help support and grow new business in Malls across the UK. Last year, the overall winners were chosen from the applicants at The Mall Luton, and the team in Luton is eager to see a local entrepreneur be successful again in 2010. Terry and Janis Loran from Toddington, last year’s winners, noticed a gap in the market for personalised merchandise for special occasions. Aged 59, Terry was made redundant and decided to enter and set up “Initially Yours”, proving that it is never too late to start your own business.

His wife Janis explains: “The competition was definitely well worth entering. Provided you adopt the right attitude and are prepared to put in the effort, Make Your Mark in Retail may just make a real difference to your business and your life.”

Brian McFarland, General Manager of The Mall Luton agrees: “This is a competition that really could change someone’s life. So many people dream of working for themselves but don’t have the money or experience to even get their ideas off the ground. This competition allows people to test their business or products without taking huge risks, and with a tremendous amount of support from a network of expert advisors. We were delighted when Terry and Janis won last year, and we know that there are lots of local people with the ideas and enthusiasm to equal this success in 2010.”

End.

Notes to Editors:

The Mall is the leading owner and operator of community shopping centres in the UK. The Mall currently owns 19 shopping malls throughout the UK and sees around 4 million shopping visits a week. The Mall Fund is a specialist property fund managed by Capital & Regional. Aviva Investors is Fund Manager.
The Mall, Luton houses over 120 retailers and sits in the heart of the town centre in Luton. The £20m redevelopment of The Mall Luton, due to end autumn 2010, is currently taking place to remodel the St. George’s Square end of the centre. The redevelopment will provide over 75,000 sq ft of high-quality new shopping, with cafes and restaurants opening onto the recently redeveloped square.

The Mall is committed to Luton as a major destination and is confident this development will provide the best possible shopping experience and has already secured TK Maxx as an anchor tenant in this new development.

Visit www.themall.co.uk - Shopping as it should be

This press release has been written and distributed by Flowing Ink. For more information or images please call Danielle on 01582 487223 or email danielle@flowingink.co.uk.

www.flowingink.co.uk.
Ref: TML/MR005

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