REINVIGORATE – DOLPHIN CENTRE – POOLE
Nominations Address: 110 Dolphin Centre, Poole
Investor/Developer Name: Legal & General Investment Management Ltd.
Investor/Developer Address: One Coleman Street, London EC2R 5AA
Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM)’s £580,000 Kingland investment has turned a previously vacant high street into a vibrant district, boosting the local economy and providing 31 new jobs since April 2021.The scheme is a UK-first for LGIM, showcasing ten hand-picked local independent businesses which benefit from a rent and business rates holiday for the first two years. Kingland, adjacent to Poole’s Dolphin Shopping Centre, has played a pivotal role in reinvigorating Poole High Street.
Combined turnover reached £1.26million by April 2022, with over 1.8million customers passing through since opening. Footfall at Kingland has risen by 16.1%, with a dwell time improvement of 7%. The Dolphin’s footfall now outperforms the UK shopping centre average by +7.1% from April to December. It’s estimated the additional footfall has generated £2.4million in additional sales for retailers within the Dolphin Centre.
Kingland has also attracted customers from affluent areas such as Sandbanks and Canford Cliffs, spending 3x more than the average Dolphin customer. There has also been a +12% swing in Prime Shoppers.Kingland’s entrepreneurial start-up incubator retailers showcase a wide variety of the best of local small businesses, offering a unique bricks-and-mortar shopping experience that cannot be found elsewhere locally. Offerings include custom surfboard and repair café, Hux Customs; ethical, handmade perfumery Ånd Fragrance; Greenslade’s Fishmongers; Zero-waste grocer Bare Necessities; Restored Retro furniture; Viper Gin bar; plant and homeware shop Wild Roots; Paintshop Studio and Gallery; Grounded Coffee; and non-profit Pen Gallery. Emma Rowland, owner of Pen Gallery, has sold products of over 100 local makers, and curates exhibitions and sold-out creative workshops.
Emma commented: “There’s such an appetite for what we do, being the first of its kind locally. I would never have been able to open a shop or run a non-profit the way I do here, anywhere else.”
