European sports stadia sign up Cheltenham company

Rapid Retail, the stadia and events portable retail unit specialist, has expanded into Europe, taking its units across the Channel to two of the most prestigious football stadia on the continent: Barcelona's Camp Nou and the San Siro in Milan.

Camp Nou, home to FC Barcelona and the largest stadium in Europe with a capacity of over 98,500, has taken delivery of three fully fitted shop units, together with three VIP suite units. The highly visible and heavily branded units have been designed to maximise the club's opportunity to showcase and increase sales of its merchandise to both the fans and its hospitality guests.

In Italy, meanwhile, at the San Siro stadium, home to the great football rivals AC and Inter Milan, three fully fitted merchandise shop units have recently been installed. The units, positioned on the external concourse of the stadium, have been branded in San Siro's neutral colours, enabling both clubs to customize the shops according to the individual colours and logo's of their official merchandise, programmes and souvenirs.

Nick Daffern, Rapid Retail's Managing Director, said: "Camp Nou and San Siro are two of the most impressive football stadia in Europe, so we are absolutely delighted to have secured these deals.

We have already seen how our shops and units have increased match day commercialisation and boosted customer penetration at major sporting venues in the UK, such as Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City, so we are thrilled to see our business expanding into Europe."

Rapid Retail, in business for four years, has taken its concept of rentable, branded and affordable retail space to many sports stadia, entertainment venues and events. The company's bespoke shop and merchandising units, branded with clients' colours and logo's, are used throughout the sporting world in a variety of uses, including merchandise sales, programme operation, ticket collection and shirt printing. Costing from as little as £1.25 per square foot per game, the units are safe, secure and fully maintained, offering clubs the opportunity to increase their retail footprint with no initial capital expenditure.