Gatwick Airport sees almost all retail units back operating for first time since Covid as urban winery Vagabond opens

This week they celebrated it’s newest opening at Vagabond Bar & Kitchen which showcases a vast array of the best local wines, beers and produce from across the region, alongside global options.

Vagabond has taken the space previously occupied by Jamie’s Italian in the South Terminal and it takes up almost 7,000 square feet and does 300 covers. You can take a tour of the restaurant with Vagabond managing director Matthew Fleming here.

The award-winning urban winery opened its second airport outlet and largest single site in May and in just a few weeks they will be opening a sister bar - South Downs – which is a brand-new concept exclusive to Gatwick.

Vagabond will provide passengers with a choice of more than 80 wines from around the world, via its bespoke self-serve dispensing machines local vineyards, including Digby in Arundel, Tillingham in Rye, and Kingscote - based less than 10 miles from London Gatwick in East Grinstead - will be represented.

And they have just won an award for their collaboration with Artelium, a boutique wine producer who has estates in Streat and Madehurst in Sussex.

And Gatwick’s retail director Rachel Bulford is delighted to see Vagabond arrive at the airport and says more openings will be coming over the next few months. “We have a number of new openings coming up over the summer, some are due to come in July and we have some more coming into the winter period so by the time we get to Christmas we should start to see pretty much all of the units that were not yet let since we came out of Covid, operating.

"That is super exciting for me to get back to that level of operation at the airport.”

Gatwick is seeing footfall increase again this summer, following last year’s bust first summer post-lockdown. Rachel said: “It’s really great to see so many people back and travelling and it’s massive step change we have seen. Last summer was the first step in that and it was challenging. This summer we are in a great position and we have started to see so much passenger growth.

“It really is a sign our airports are back and our industry is back to where we want it to be after the Covid period.”

And she is very excited to see Vagabond – and it’s sister bar South Downs in Gatwick. “Unfortunately, due to Covid, this unit closed and part of our work to rejuvenate the airport and to bring everything back as we came out of the Covid period we were looking at what this unit might become so we launched a competitive process,” Rachel said.

"We spoke to various different brands about whether or not they would be interested in operating this kind of unit and Vagabond was one of those and we were really excited they put their proposal in because it met a number of our criteria, not just providing a great food and beverage but doing that with local producers and local products as well and from a Gatwick perspective. It’s really important - to showcase the fantastic products that are right on our doorstep.”

And on South Downs, Rachel said: “What’s really exciting about that is that it’s showcasing English Sparkling Wine. We have a number of local producers, some just mere minutes away from the airport who will have their wines here for people to try.

"We are really excited for people to try that and it’s the first time we are aware of English Sparkling Wine has been showcased in this kind of concept and it’s really great for some of those fantastic products that are winning awards around the world are going to be here at Gatwick for our passengers to try as they come through.”