Rapid Retail harnesses solar power to drive flexible shop units at UK venues
Rapid Retail, supplier of portable retail units for Premiership football clubs and sporting venues, is helping clubs ‘go green’ by using energy efficient solar panel technology to reduce the environmental impact of their shop units.
The firm, chosen earlier this year as the official suppliers of units for the UEFA Cup Final in Manchester, and who provided units for the Rugby World Cup, has recently supplied four retail units to Manchester United Merchandising Ltd and a bespoke retail unit to Aston Villa FC.
Rapid’s units ease the pressure on the busy club shops, improving visitor experience by reducing time spent queuing and provide the club with an affordable way to access flexible and adaptable retail floor space helping them to maximise impulse purchase opportunities.
The units, decorated in club colours or in brand graphics, are then fully fitted and capable of taking a variety of utilities. The use of solar panels helps to provide an efficient and low cost way of supplying power needed to drive lighting, heating, tills and computers.
As Rapid MD Nick Daffern explains: “Football clubs and sports stadia are being encouraged to look at the environmental impact of their operations and as we have worked with management teams at a wide range of sports and entertainment facilities in the UK and Europe we have come to understand the pressures on stadia and venue management to be aware of the environmental impact of any development on site, and of their need to take all steps to reduce those impacts.
“Rapid will work with Stadia management to lessen, wherever possible, such impacts. For this reason, Rapid Kiosk and Retail units can be powered by solar panels, which are incorporated into a tried and tested system that allows complete and effective functionality of the unit”.
Last season the FA supported an initiative by one of the UK’s leading energy suppliers (and sponsor of The FA Cup) when it launched its Carbon Footyprint campaign, aiming to reduce the carbon footprint of The FA Cup over the course of the 2007/08 season.
The campaign also targeted fans to try and encourage them to reduce their own carbon emissions and calculated the operational emissions from all participating clubs, the television emissions from viewers watching matches at home and the travel based carbon emissions produced by home and away fans.
Teams such as Manchester City, Arsenal and Middlesbrough have plans to install wind turbines, but recently Dartford FC claim to have become the first to incorporate a broad range of environmentally friendly features into their stadium design
As Nick Daffern said: “It’s good to see more and more sporting clubs starting to capitalise on the advantages of using portable retail space, it’s a flexible and low-cost way to drive up revenues through maximising opportunities to buy and if we can help by delivering these benefits whilst saving costs and saving energy at the same time we will”.
The company has been in business for less than two years but as well as working with leading football clubs has already supplied programme kiosks for the Stade de France in Paris, a retail shop for the Brit Oval cricket ground, kiosks for racing venue Prescott Hill and earlier in the year supplied a specially created bar for Gloucester Rugby Club.
CONTACT: George E Davis 01543 257758
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