A raft of Covid-19 friendly initiatives are planned to make shopping safe at the £100 million Grantham Designer Outlet Village.

Work is due to start on the scheme at the south end of Grantham within the next few months, with developer Rioja Estates now planning an opening in 2022.

The company says it is looking at installing permanent and temporary sanitisation points for hand washing, two metre indicators in paving and landscaping and extending the window canopies to make social distance queuing more comfortable.

Also being considered are app-based virtual queuing systems for car parks, individual stores and restaurants and the creation of a bespoke Grantham Designer Outlet Village -branded online sales platform to improve customer access to brands and create a 'halo effect' in case of future issues.

Rioja says it has kept in close contact with all of its brands and through the crisis this effort has only increased.

Leasing director Adrian Taylor said: "Although most of them have been firefighting in their full price business, they have still been very keen to keep conversations with us going, as many have built up overstocks during the lockdown period."

"Therefore leasing has continued for Grantham Designer Outlet Village and this has been helped by the fact that we already have signed terms for such brands as Armani Outlet, which sets the tone for the other brands we are in discussions with."

These unusual times, the company continues, has made social media even more important. The brands Rioja already works with have enjoyed higher online sales during the pandemic, leading it to work with Wishibam, a company who makes online transactional platforms for physical retail stores, especially in outlet villages.

A platform will be created for Grantham Designer Outlet Village which will enable its retailers to offer their stores' stocks for sale all day every day, for click and collect or home delivery, even in times of lockdown.

Neil Thompson, Operations & Management Director at Rioja Estates, said: "We are also working with emerging technology companies to harness, agglomerate and control the power of social media channels such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, which is very exciting as we move forward with this ground-breaking project."

Rioja has more than 30 years of experience in developing similar designer outlets across the UK and Europe. For the last several years it has busily worked with South Kesteven District Council to brings its Grantham plans to fruition.

Planning permission was granted two years ago, with the outlet originally due open in 2021, though the pandemic has delayed this until 2022.

When complete, the Grantham Designer Outlet Village will become the UK's only premium outlet with a visible frontage to the A1, allowing direct access from the UK's third busiest highway.

Giles Membrey, Founder and Managing Director of Rioja Estates, said: "Grantham Designer Outlet Village will be a 273,000sq ft development in an open-air village format that will be situated three miles South of Grantham town centre right next to a new junction on the busy A1.

"It will house 137 units, including restaurants, coffee shops and a children's play area, all set in a beautiful environment, designed with landscaped gardens and attractive water features, befitting its rural setting."

To be split into two phases, phase one will provide 178,213sq ft of retail with 89 stores and restaurants, 1,700 parking spaces, 25 electric car charger spaces, a coach park, a VIP area rewarding all loyal customers, along with a tourist information centre and pop-up shop that will showcase the retailers and businesses of Grantham.

Phase two will see a further 94,809sq ft of retail space to create 48 extra stores and dining possibilities, plus a further 200 electric car charging points.

To combat fears the development will harm Grantham town centre, Rioja says the scheme will bring shoppers to the town and the company will provide trips to the town centre and nearby attractions.

Grantham is also smartening up shop frontages, with the town also offering more independent retailers and food and beverage operations.

Giles Membrey continued: "Buckminster, a local property trust with rural, commercial and retail property in and around Grantham have been at the forefront of these changes."

"They are also the land owner behind Grantham Designer Outlet Village so the aim is to enhance the region further by bringing premium fashion brands that would never go to Grantham town centre, to complement the offer there and provide linked trips to Grantham and surrounding tourist destinations."

Rioja says progress on-site has been pleasing as Grantham Designer Outlet Village works towards its 2022 opening, and, along with the new Grantham Southern Relief Road which is also being built, this will bring all through traffic directly past the development upon completion.

Neil Thompson added: "Full planning consent has been granted and ratified by central government and we can now announce that all pre-commencement conditions have been discharged. Our section 106 is in place, ready for the start of construction in a few months' time."