Gensler wins airport retail brief
What happened
- Gensler secured a retail design contract from Manchester Airports Group for airport retail environments. - The engagement focuses on passenger experience and revenue-generating retail within airport operations. - The award highlights how large firms win specialised transport work combining design, commerce, and operational planning (centreforaviation.com).
Why it matters
Gensler has won a five-year retail design role with Manchester Airports Group, extending work that began at London Stansted into the operator’s wider airport network. (moodiedavittreport.com) The appointment puts Gensler on Manchester Airports Group’s retail design framework for Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands airports. DFNI reported the brief covers strategic retail planning and interior design aimed at growing non-aeronautical revenue, the industry term for money airports make outside airline fees. (dfnionline.com) The new deal follows a three-year partnership in which Gensler worked on the commercial design for Stansted’s expansion. Moody Davitt said Manchester Airports Group is building toward serving more than 43 million passengers annually across the projects tied to that expansion work. (moodiedavittreport.com) Airport retail design is less about picking shopfront colors than deciding where passengers slow down, what they see after security, and how stores fit around security lanes, gates and circulation routes. Gensler says its aviation practice designs for passengers, tenants, employees and airport owners at the same time, which is why these contracts sit between architecture, operations and retail leasing. (gensler.com) Manchester Airports Group is the UK’s largest airport group and owns Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands airports. Its investor materials say the company’s strategy combines profitable growth with a high-quality passenger experience, which helps explain why retail planning is being procured as a group-wide function. (magairports.com ) (magairports.com) The commercial stakes are large. Manchester Airports Group reported £327.9 million in retail concession income for the year to March 31, 2025, up 9% from a year earlier, according to Moody Davitt’s report on the group’s annual results. (moodiedavittreport.com) The same annual report said group turnover rose 8.5% to £1.342 billion in fiscal 2025. Manchester Airports Group’s annual report also described fiscal 2025 as a record year for passenger numbers at Manchester Airport and said the airport made significant progress on its £1.3 billion transformation program. (thebusinessdesk.com) (assets.live.dxp.maginfrastructure.com) At Manchester Airport, that wider rebuild includes the long-running terminal overhaul that is due to finish in 2026. Construction reporting on the project said Terminal 2 has already been expanded, Terminal 3 is being renovated, and Terminal 1 is set to close as capacity is consolidated. (c-mw.net) Manchester Airports Group has also been widening its supplier rosters beyond retail design. In 2025 it launched a £600 million construction framework and separately named partners on a £550 million airfield infrastructure framework, showing how the operator is packaging specialist work into long-term contracts across its estate. (constructionnews.co.uk) (constructionenquirer.com) For Gensler, the brief keeps the firm inside a stream of airport projects where shop layouts, passenger flow and capital works now move together. For Manchester Airports Group, it gives one designer a longer runway to shape how passengers spend time — and money — before boarding. (moodiedavittreport.com)
Key numbers
- Moody Davitt said Manchester Airports Group is building toward serving more than 43 million passengers annually across the projects tied to that expansion work.
- Manchester Airports Group reported £327.9 million in retail concession income for the year to March 31, 2025, up 9% from a year earlier, according to Moody Davitt’s report on the group’s annual results.
- (moodiedavittreport.com) The same annual report said group turnover rose 8.5% to £1.342 billion in fiscal 2025.
- Manchester Airports Group’s annual report also described fiscal 2025 as a record year for passenger numbers at Manchester Airport and said the airport made significant progress on its £1.3 billion transformation program.
What happens next
- Construction reporting on the project said Terminal 2 has already been expanded, Terminal 3 is being renovated, and Terminal 1 is set to close as capacity is consolidated.
Quick answers
What happened in Gensler wins airport retail brief?
Gensler secured a retail design contract from Manchester Airports Group for airport retail environments. The engagement focuses on passenger experience and revenue-generating retail within airport operations. The award highlights how large firms win specialised transport work combining design, commerce, and operational planning (centreforaviation.com).
Why does Gensler wins airport retail brief matter?
Gensler has won a five-year retail design role with Manchester Airports Group, extending work that began at London Stansted into the operator’s wider airport network. (moodiedavittreport.com) The appointment puts Gensler on Manchester Airports Group’s retail design framework for Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands airports. DFNI reported the brief covers strategic retail planning and interior design aimed at growing non-aeronautical revenue, the industry term for money airports make outside airline fees. (dfnionline.com) The new deal follows a three-year partnership in which Gensler worked on the commercial design for Stansted’s expansion. Moody Davitt said Manchester Airports Group is building toward serving more than 43 million passengers annually across the projects tied to that expansion work. (moodiedavittreport.com) Airport retail design is less about picking shopfront colors than deciding where passengers slow down, what they see after security, and how stores fit around security lanes, gates and circulation routes. Gensler says its aviation practice designs for passengers, tenants, employees and airport owners at the same time, which is why these contracts sit between architecture, operations and retail leasing. (gensler.com) Manchester Airports Group is the UK’s largest airport group and owns Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands airports. Its investor materials say the company’s strategy combines profitable growth with a high-quality passenger experience, which helps explain why retail planning is being procured as a group-wide function. (magairports.com ) (magairports.com) The commercial stakes are large. Manchester Airports Group reported £327.9 million in retail concession income for the year to March 31, 2025, up 9% from a year earlier, according to Moody Davitt’s report on the group’s annual results. (moodiedavittreport.com) The same annual report said group turnover rose 8.5% to £1.342 billion in fiscal 2025. Manchester Airports Group’s annual report also described fiscal 2025 as a record year for passenger numbers at Manchester Airport and said the airport made significant progress on its £1.3 billion transformation program. (thebusinessdesk.com) (assets.live.dxp.maginfrastructure.com) At Manchester Airport, that wider rebuild includes the long-running terminal overhaul that is due to finish in 2026. Construction reporting on the project said Terminal 2 has already been expanded, Terminal 3 is being renovated, and Terminal 1 is set to close as capacity is consolidated. (c-mw.net) Manchester Airports Group has also been widening its supplier rosters beyond retail design. In 2025 it launched a £600 million construction framework and separately named partners on a £550 million airfield infrastructure framework, showing how the operator is packaging specialist work into long-term contracts across its estate. (constructionnews.co.uk) (constructionenquirer.com) For Gensler, the brief keeps the firm inside a stream of airport projects where shop layouts, passenger flow and capital works now move together. For Manchester Airports Group, it gives one designer a longer runway to shape how passengers spend time — and money — before boarding. (moodiedavittreport.com)
