Market Halls to launch new dining concept, at Intu Lakeside: Food hall business Market Halls is to launch a new concept at Intu Lakeside shopping centre in Thurrock, Essex. Market Halls opened two major central London sites in Fulham and Victoria last year and its first out-of-town concept, The Hall, will launch this spring as part of a 175,000 square foot leisure development at Intu Lakeside. The Hall will bring together “dynamic and independent” food traders from across the south east and use the “big-city energy, theatre and excitement” of street food to create a “compelling dining experience”. The Hall at Intu Lakeside will cover 14,500 square feet and include seven kitchens, a coffee shop, pop-up areas for food trucks, two bars and seating for 680 people. Former property developer and philanthropist Andy Lewis-Pratt and Simon Anderson, the restaurateur behind London’s Pitt Cue Co, launched Market Halls in spring 2018 with the aim of redefining the British concept of food halls. Further openings in London and across the country will be announced this year, including Market Hall West End, which will become the largest food hall in the country when it launches this autumn. Lewis-Pratt said: “This is an exciting avenue for Market Halls. The Hall will provide a new and vibrant social dining option for the 20 million visitors to Intu Lakeside every year.” Rebecca Ryman, regional managing director at Intu, added: “The Hall at Intu Lakeside is a great fit for the centre’s quality new leisure offer and we know it will flourish. Intu Lakeside is already one of the country’s most popular shopping centres and we’re working with operators that share our ambition for innovation in leisure to create the best possible customer experience. The calibre of all the brands we’re attracting to the leisure development is testament to the potential of this new space when it launches later this year.” Family entertainment centre Nickelodeon Adventure and indoor mini-golf experience Puttshack’s first location outside London will also launch at the extension alongside Hollywood Bowl, trampoline park operator Flip Out and a raft of new restaurants.