Intu Properties : Metrocentre leisure offer soars with new climbing wall

intu is adding a climbing wall attraction to intu Metrocentre's growing leisure offer, weeks after signing up a new-concept Angry Birds mini golf course for the centre.

Clip 'n Climb will launch there this summer to capitalise on the centre's 20 million annual footfall and the growing appeal of indoor climbing walls, which are recording visitor growth of 15-20% a year according to the Association of British Climbing Walls.

The 3,700 sq ft attraction is being created within mall space close to a number of catering outlets and will feature 26 colourful climbing walls to cater for a range of ages and abilities. There will even be an augmented climbing wall that projects graphics onto the wall and uses motion tracking sensors to create interactives games for one or two players.

Clip 'n Climb's operator Namco UK, which already runs intu Metrocentre's Funscape entertainment centre, is also launching the first in a chain of Angry Birds adventure golf courses at intu Metrocentre this autumn in partnership with game developer Rovio.

Clip 'n Climb will join intu Metrocentre's popular line-up of aspirational brands and high street names and drive up the centre's appeal as a day out retail and leisure destination

Kate Grant
Regional managing director, intu

The new attractions will add to intu Metrocentre's leisure offer by providing more activities to entertain customers and create an even bigger draw for people looking for a day out destination. The centre is already one of the country's most popular shopping destinations, with more than 300 stores, a wide range of restaurants and an IMAX cinema. It was recently named a top-10 shopping centre by data analytics company GlobalData according to research taking into account the requirements of both tenants and shoppers.

The centre's Funscape is one of our most successful venues so we know that Clip 'n Climb is going to do equally well at intu Metrocentre.

Philip Milward
Commercial director at Namco

Kate Grant, regional managing director at intu, said: "Clip 'n Climb will join intu Metrocentre's popular line-up of aspirational brands and high street names and drive up the centre's appeal as a day out retail and leisure destination, which is all part of our strategy to create winning destinations in sought after locations. We know it is going to thrive here and the attraction will also create a real sense of theatre for our customers due to its location in the mall itself."

Philip Milward, commercial director at Namco, said: "intu Metrocentre's high footfall, wide range of top-performing retail brands and complementary leisure offer makes it the perfect location to launch the latest Clip 'n Climb. The centre's Funscape is one of our most successful venues so we know that Clip 'n Climb is going to do equally well at intu Metrocentre."