House of Fraser Kendals

HCI were engaged to refurbish Kendals Manchester store, part of the House of Fraser group. The store was unusual in that it was a grade 2 listed building and had in its time been a flagship department store on its opening in 1939.

The project, which took place over a period of 3 years, would see the store stripped back to its original fabric and supported with new major steel strengthening. The store was then sympathetically refitted with todays top mechanical, electrical, data, building management systems along with the installation of life safety systems, restoring Kendals to its
rightful place as a premier retailer.

Situated in Manchester’s main shopping area in the regenerated city centre, Kendals eight trading floors and one non trading floor programme was set to complete two floors per year, with each floor phased over a three month period, causing minimal disruption to trading.

HCI’s implementation team formed a close working relationship with the general manager and staff of Kendals to ensure that trading objectives were met whilst the extensive refurbishment took place.

“Havelock undertook the complex refurbishment of one of our flagship stores, Kendals of Manchester, which involved the upgrading of life safety systems, structural strengthening, fire protection, new ceilings/ floors and services and new shopfit. Havelock have been particularly successful in overcoming technical issues in a listed building and an operational city centre site.”
House of Fraser Store Development Director