Sales pitch

摘要

With retail companies under non-stop pressure for sales, recent years have seen a growing trend towards 'commercialisation activities' in indoor shopping centres. This involves retail, food, promotional, leisure and advertising stalls, displays and areas positioned in the open areas of a shopping mall, driving increased footfall and sales revenue. However, the scale of commercialisation activities, together with the rising number of retail units in shopping centres, can create specific risks in terms of fire management and crowd safety. Indeed, the British Council of Shopping Centres (BCSC), which represents the retail property industry, has highlighted the need to consider the fire safety implications of these retail and promotional areas as part of the fire risk assessments carried out by retailers and shopping centre management. This article sets out some of its guidance.