Tesco Coventry Arena
At a cost of £40 million and constructed within a strict ten month building programme, Coventry's new prestigious retail development, Arena Park, opened for business on 1st November 2004. Coventry Arena is part of a major regeneration of this area to provide a new football stadium for Coventry City Football Club, a casino, leisure facilities, bus interchange, shopping mall and a retail park.
The retail development includes a 140,000sq.ft. (12,999sq.m.) Tesco flagship store, The largest Tesco store built to date, 15 shop units totalling 20,000sq.ft., 5 retail units of 60,000sq.ft. including Next, Boots, Borders, Sports World and a Pizza Hut restaurant.
The design focuses on the theme of a shopping "high street", which extends through the mall and the retail park linking all the shopping facilities with the railway station, football stadium, casino, leisure facilities and Foleshill Road, thus forming the backbone of a modern cohesive development.
Future facilities have also been planned to provide the location with an even wider choice of amenities. The development has vastly improved the local facilities provided in this part of Coventry as well as giving it a new character and a much needed revitalisation.
Source: (http://www.saundersarchitects.com/portfolio/3_60)
Tasks
Assume that you have been employed as an HR consultant to make recommendations to the local Coventry Chamber of Commerce regarding the potential of this development to contribute to the much needed revitalization in the Coventry area. Draw up an analysis (notes) using the following guidelines:
1. Assess the employment situation at present in the Coventry area amidst changes that took place during 2004/5 by doing a brief SWOT analysis (ie identify the main strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and