Boxpark appoints property director as it looks to push on with expansion
Having previously worked to deliver sites in the UK and major European cities for brands including Peach Pub Company and City Inn Hotels, Bishop will be responsible for sourcing potential sites for Boxpark, which currently has three London locations in Shoreditch, Croydon and Wembley.
Last year Boxpark announced plans to open 10 new sites over the next five years in major UK cities, and says that despite the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic, it remains focused on its growth strategy.
As part of his role, Bishop will create a programme of rolling acquisitions, focusing on potential site locations for Boxpark in London, Bristol, Cardiff, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
This will include sourcing potential sites for Boxpark's original concept, as well as its two new offshoot concepts BoxOffice and BoxHall.
BoxOffice will be the larger of the two developments, and is designed as a way to incorporate a co-working spaces into new Boxpark sites.
The BoxOffice sites will be between 50,000 and 150,000sq ft in size, and set over four to six floors.
Ground floors will feature a Boxpark street food and bar area, with the first floor designated for leisure operators including cinemas, crazy golf and karaoke, and two to four floors of co-working space above that.
The second concept, BoxHall, will be smaller - 10,000 to 20,000sq ft – F&B-focused destinations that will each feature between six and 12 street food vendors.
Boxpark says it was set to announce record profits and a private equity deal before the Covid-19 pandemic hit.
However, whilst lockdown presented many challenges for the hospitality and leisure sectors, the group says it remains 'extremely resilient' and is 'optimistic' about the future.
“Despite closing our sites for over 12 weeks, we’ve tried to maintain a positive outlook by realising our key strengths as a business and future prospects," says Boxpark CEO and founder Roger Wade.
"Luckily for us, we’ve had a great bounce back; since reopening our site footfall and like-for-like sales have surpassed our expectations, but there’s no time to stand still.
“I believe opportunities arise from every situation, and are delighted to bring Simon on board to identify the best options for our new site concepts, so that we can continue to deliver fantastic sites and experiences.
"We are more focused than ever on our growth strategy and we think Simon holds the perfect skill set and experience to help us reach our ambitions.”
