Indoor adventure climbing operator Rock Up is the latest brand to take space at intu Lakeside, one of the UK’s most popular retail and leisure destinations.
The new Rock Up attraction will be 9,500 sq. ft and feature 27 climbing walls towering over 8m, a vertical drop slide, traverse challenge, rotating climbing wall and a soft play centre.
It follows the launch of intu Lakeside’s 175,000 sq ft leisure development over the summer, anchored by major national and international leisure operators. The development is set to increase intu Lakeside’s 20 million footfall by more than two million a year and transform the centre into a major south east tourist destination.
The new space and a multi-million-pound refurbishment of the rest of the centre has also been welcomed by retailers including Zara and River Island who in turn have invested millions extending and refurbishing their intu Lakeside stores. Harrods will also open its first standalone beauty store H Beauty at intu Lakeside next year.
This will be Rock Up’s second intu site following a successful opening at intu Watford last year.
Colin Flinn, regional managing director for intu said: “We’re very excited to welcome Rock Up to intu Lakeside, offering another new experience for our visitors, and further strengthening our leisure and retail mix. The transformation of intu Lakeside into a major leisure destination for the south east area is creating the perfect environment for brands like Rock Up to thrive.”
Heidi Duckworth, executive chairman at Rock Up, said: “Being in a leisure-focused destination with high footfall is key for us, and we’re so thrilled to be able to bring our fabulous new centre with 27 fun climbing walls to intu Lakeside’s 20 million annual visitors. It’s great to be part of the amazing new leisure offering at intu Lakeside, alongside some of Britain’s biggest and best operators.”
Puttshack’s second site, one of Hollywood Bowl’s biggest venues and trampoline park brand Flipout are among brands open at intu Lakeside’s leisure extension with Nickelodeon’s first UK family entertainment centre set to launch before Christmas.
