Owned by MAG Airports, Stansted Airport’s redevelopment was first conceived in 2013, with the first phase consisting of security and check-in facilities, followed by the food and beverage phase in April 2015 and a final phase consisting of over 25 retail units is on track to open before Christmas 2015.
The redevelopment boasts a 60% larger departure lounge, from 9,459 sqm to 12,248 sqm and 70% additional seating, along with the installation of flight departure screens along all main thoroughfares and in all F&B outlets, creating a spacious, stress-free environment for the 21 million passengers travelling through the airport each year.
“The transformation of Stansted is one of the biggest developments in terms of scale that’s taken place at one of our airports under my leadership,” says MAG chief executive, Charlie Cornish. “When MAG acquired Stansted we set a clear vision to transform the terminal and improve its facilities.
“Having returned the airport to growth and once again made it the fastest major growing airport in the UK with nearly 21 million passengers using the airport each year, and passenger numbers up 25% in March alone the timing for this £80 million investment in the terminal building couldn’t be timed better.”
Over 70 brands competed for one of the 12 units in the newly developed terminal building with retail director Beth Brewster describing it as one of the ‘best headaches’ she’s ever had.
“Narrowing down the strong competition to deliver a menu that provided a wide variety of choice based on taste, appetite and budget for our passengers is one of the best headaches I’ve ever dealt with, and a scenario that clearly demonstrates the exciting step change taking place at Stansted with so many leading brands wanting to secure their involvement."
The 12 F&B outlets (Burger King, Leon, itsu, James Martin Kitchen, Pret a Manger, Starbucks, Harris + Hoole, Cabin, giraffe, Coast to Coast, Wetherspoon’s The Windmill, Halo) were tasked by the MAG team to bring something new and exciting to the Stansted site, which led to the introduction of several ‘airport firsts’.
The airport firsts include Starbucks introducing their ‘Evenings’ concept to the UK market; Burger King launching the first airport Coca-Cola freestyle machines; the first airport and grab & go site for celebrity chef James Martin; itsu debuted a breakfast offer; and the launch of several menu items at Pret.
“Being at Stansted enables the brands to innovate far more than they’re able to on the high street, they can be more creative with the space and what they offer. I’m so happy with the mix of outlets we have, from the well established to the up and coming concepts too. We couldn’t have 12 airport firsts because we’d be holding hands far too much and the risk on our part would be huge.
“When choosing the tender for each unit, we had clear categories in mind, we knew we wanted a number of grab & go options - healthy concepts and big name, table service casual dining, a big volume bar. The commercial aspect was obviously very important, but we wanted a real mix of units sitting together with options for all tastes, budgets and styles.”
Starbucks
The global coffee chain chose Stansted to mark the UK debut of their ‘Evenings’ concept, providing a range of hot and cold food and alcoholic beverages after 4pm. Since launching at Stansted, the chain has introduced its ‘Evenings’ concept at Aberdeen airport and seen Pret launch a similar ‘Good Evenings’ scheme.
Why Stansted for your UK first?
We chose to launch the first Starbucks Evenings with our leading travel licensed partner, SSP, who we knew could deliver an excellent experience for our customers. There was an opportunity to re-open the newly designed store at Stansted Airport with Starbucks Evenings to give customers travelling through the airport the opportunity to unwind in the evening with a delicious bite to eat and glass of wine or beer in our store.
Are you staying true to your initial vision with this evening concept?
In US stores, Starbucks Evenings has proven very popular and has rolled out to 30 locations in Seattle, Portland, Southern California, Chicago and Atlanta. Providing a welcoming coffeehouse environment has always been our focus and now we have expanded our menu to offer something new for the evening. The UK menu of food and drink has been carefully selected, featuring delicious small sharing plates from chorizo and prawn skewers with chilli ketchup to truffle mac & cheese and braised British beef.
Has location played a significant part in your success as a brand?
It was great to launch this first Starbucks Evenings store at Stansted Airport in partnership with SSP, and we have recently opened our second Evenings store at Edinburgh Airport. Feedback so far from our customers at both locations has been very positive. We can now offer customers something new for later in the day, providing even more choice and reasons to visit us.
Itsu
itsu, the healthy eating London chain, marked its only travel site by debuting a breakfast offer, which will then be expanded to other travel sites, including the soon-to-be-open London Euston store.
Paying particular focus to the design of the free-standing unit right in the heart of the departure lounge, itsu chose to create an ‘art installation of tranquillity’ where everything down to the height of the seats, brightness of the lamps and floor space throughout was carefully thought through in the bespoke design.
How is your breakfast offer being received at Stansted and how does this compare to your sites on the high street?
We are thrilled with how successful the initial launch of our breakfast offer and we’re keen to expand this offer further. We’re close to opening a site in the redevelopment of Euston station and will be extending the breakfast offer there.
Identify some of the demands and challenges you are facing as an operator at Stansted, and how are you overcoming them?
One of the biggest challenges we faced at Stansted was having a central space with no walls, and something Julian and the team worked hard to make work. The space is now utilised really well using large benches instead of individual tables and clutter-free to help passengers with their luggage.
The design is completely bespoke to this site and Julian’s perfectionism shone though, with everything down to the colour scheme, speed of the changing lights and size and shape of the butterflies was thought through carefully.
How do you plan to innovate at your travel sites?
Travel ports are a really interesting part of our business, having previously been open in Heathrow T5 and soon opening in Euston. We are never saying never to a return to Heathrow!
We’ve also started trialling a scheme where if customers spend £5 or more at itsu Stansted, they’ll receive a cool bag to be able to take their meal with them on the plane and keep it at its correct temperature.
Leon
The healthy, ‘naturally fast food’ concept continues its expansion in the travel sector, after opening in Heathrow’ T2 and T3, King’s Cross, and the Eurotunnel.
Is expansion into the travel sector your long term goal?
Yes. To be the future of fast food we need to be wherever people want and need us, and that includes airports and train stations. When people are travelling, they are experiencing the range of emotions. They can be excited, stressed, in love, zen, mad, focused, or in party mode. It makes for a very fun business.
After opening in Heathrow T2 and T3, King’s Cross, the Eurotunnel, and now Stansted, how do you manage to grow and maintain standards and consistency across your business?
We have HMSHost to thank for that. They are specialists in airports and in travel more broadly. And we have both invested a lot in training, customer feedback, and consistency. It is a good marriage - unlike any marriage, sometimes they are up for a bit of sexy time and sometimes you have to stay up late doing housework.
Does your pricing strategy differ here to those on the high street?
Prices generally remain the same. A few of our transport sites don’t offer certain meal deals, as is customary in train stations and airports, but we try to minimise differences.
James Martin Kitchen
The celebrity chef, currently presenting the BBC’s Saturday Kitchen, chose to launch a grab & go concept at Stansted rather than the more traditional casual dining outlets.
Martin chose to move forward with the grab & go concept not only because of the challenges it presented, such as speed and volume, but because of the freedom he had to choose the best produce available.
Which came first the concept idea or the location?
SSP approached me about two years ago with the idea of launching a concept in an airport. I’ve already got the restaurant, so I thought it was time to do something different, which is where the grab & go concept came from.
We worked closely with Stansted and with SSP and came up with the James Martin Kitchen idea and it’s been two very hard years in the making.
Why Stansted for your first launch into grab & go?
Stansted has been very forgiving in terms of my lack of experience opening something new in a new environment. It’s been a learning curve understanding how all of the things I’m used to in the restaurant work in an airport environment, from sourcing the produce, training the staff and even to making the carrot cake.
What potential do you see in the grab & go sector?
It’s a different experience than the formal sit down meal, people don’t have time at airports, they want to come in and do a little shopping and don’t want to sit down for an hour and have a gourmet meal, they’d much rather have great tasting food with the option of taking away or sitting in.
Do you have plans to roll out the concept further into the grab & go market?
Well, they’re [SSP] are already trying to get to do another one. I think it would be a case of getting easier because you’d learn from previous mistakes. Looking now, there’s constant improvements that I can see, but there’s no reason why the concept couldn’t work in other travel sites or in the high street.
Whether I’d want to do it all over the place is another question… I’ve aged with just two restaurants.