Manchester’s Cunning Plan Marketing has created the brand for a new shopping centre in London’s Waterloo International Train Station, which is due to open this summer.

The agency won the brief via a competitive pitch back in 2020 and were tasked with coming up with brand strategy, positioning, name and visual identity as well as website and social media strategy for the scheme.

Cunning Plan’s brand identity needed to appeal to local residents, commuters, day trippers and local workers.

In depth research was carried out with focus groups and interviews to help understand the expectations of the audience as well as engaging with the South Bank BID and its many high profile attractions to ensure the scheme and its brand fit into the South Bank and Waterloo landscape successfully.

The new scheme is named The Sidings, with the strapline ‘Waterloo’s Social Side’, inspired by the vision for the scheme to be a space to the side of Waterloo station where people can get together, take a break away from the busy station environment.

The Sidings is due to open this summer and will be housed within the UK’s busiest train station. 130,000 square foot, over three floors, it will be a mixed use scheme with retail, food and beverage outlets and entertainment venues. So far it has been announced that it will be home to the biggest BrewDog in the world plus a groundbreaking immersive experience; Alice’s Adventures Underground, courtesy of Labyrinth.

The Sidings will be part of London’s vibrant South Bank, opposite the iconic London Eye and close to other attractions including the London Aquarium, Tate Modern and The London Dungeon.

Cunning Plan launched the brand earlier this month with a teaser website to raise awareness of the centre as it counts down to its opening later this month.

Cunning Plan’s Managing Director, James Adam said: “The Sidings has been a labour of love for some time now, we’re excited for the brand to finally see the light of day. It’s been a complicated brief that required careful balancing of creativity with stakeholder engagement to ensure we got the best result. We’re very proud of how the brand turned out and we can’t wait to open this Summer.”

The Sidings Centre Director, Lynne Glover said: “Cunning Plan has a proven reputation when it comes to shopping centre and destination marketing. Their approach combines creativity with a structured process, which results in a brand that is impactful but also authentic. We look forward to working with them as our retained agency once the centre opens its doors.”

Bupa has become the Official Healthcare Partner of ParalympicsGB, in a three-year partnership to provide British Paralympians with the highest quality healthcare on their journey to success at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games – and beyond.

Through Bupa, the athletes will be provided with the medical expertise needed to reach the peak of their performance as they look to build on their impressive achievement of 124 medals, across a record breaking 18 different sports, and a second place medal table finish at Tokyo 2020. Bupa will support Paralympic athletes across the whole range of sports preparing for Paris 2024.

The partnership will include practical health assessments designed to give a full overview of health and wellbeing to prevent and address concerns, as well as physical and mental health services.

Through the partnership Bupa and ParalympicsGB will also collaborate to challenge perceptions around disability in society, celebrating difference and diversity in order to help everyone achieve their goals, while also promoting inclusivity in business, healthcare and other areas of life.

The partnership was launched at Bupa’s offices in Salford, Manchester, on Wednesday 6 July, by Bupa Global & UK CEO Carlos Jaureguizar, alongside Mike Sharrock, Chief Executive of the British Paralympic Association, and Aaron Phipps MBE, gold medal-winning wheelchair rugby player.

Aaron Phipps MBE, Wheelchair Rugby Tokyo 2020 gold medallist, says: “Throughout my life and sporting career I’ve worked to challenge perceptions around disability so it’s great to see Bupa and ParalympicsGB partnering to bring this to the forefront of our society. There shouldn’t be any barriers to anyone reaching their full potential in life and the more we can spread that message, the more we can achieve together.

“To compete at an elite level it’s vital that we have access to the highest quality medical advice and support. Being able to utilise the UK’s top clinicians and services through Bupa has the potential to give us all a real competitive edge.”

Carlos Jaureguizar, CEO for Bupa Global & UK, says: “Paralympians show us that there’s nothing you can’t do when you put your mind to it. It’s this determination that inspires us in our mission to change the face of healthcare.

“Working with ParalympicsGB gives us the unique opportunity to understand the needs of more people in society, ultimately reflecting the diverse needs of our customers. It’s important to celebrate our diversity and each of our differences, in order to make a tangible shift in perceptions of disability in our society. Together, we want to inspire the next generation to believe that anything is possible.”

Mike Sharrock, Chief Executive at the British Paralympic Association, says: “For everyone, whether you’re an athlete or not, looking after your health and wellbeing is crucial and I am delighted this partnership will give ParalympicsGB athletes access to an array of additional support for their mental and physical wellbeing. We’re proud to be partnering with Bupa, and it’s clear based on their experience of working with Paralympic athletes and organisations around the world that they will be just as keen as we are at ParalympicsGB to make this a truly meaningful partnership, driving the change we want to see in perceptions of disability.”

The partnership with ParalympicsGB continues a long-standing history of partnering with national Paralympic associations for Bupa. In 2007, Sanitas, part of Bupa Group, became the Official Medical Provider for the Spanish Paralympic Committee and has since supported over athletes at several Paralympic Games. Since then, Bupa has gone on to support Paralympians in Poland and Chile – providing healthcare support to the Paralympic teams and developing health and wellbeing initiatives and programmes for their athletes.