Its first two stores opened in Tunbridge Wells and Guildford in 2011,supported by its web store, blottshop.com.

In 2012 Blott opened a further four stores in Cambridge, Reading, Windsor and Sheffield Meadowhall, and is planning to continue its ambitious roll-out plan to open a further five stores in 2013.

The doors to their seventh shop will be opening in Intu Lakeside during the week commencing 10th June.

With  design  at  the  heart  of  the  brand,  Blott’s  stationery  demonstrates  a  perfect  marriage   of function and form, providing products that not only work and last, but look great.

Founder, Chris Manson, commented: “I am thrilled with the reception that Blott has received in the last two years.

“Our six shops have proved its customer appeal, and our unique product ranges have been a huge success. I love standing in our shops and over-hearing our customers enthusing about us.

“Now Blott will be spreading its wings, and we can’t wait to open our Lakeside store.”

Blott is very excited to be coming to:
Unit 120, Intu Lakeside Shopping Centre, West Thurrock Way, Grays, Essex, RM20 2ZG
They open week commencing 10th June.
Come and see what all the fuss is about.

Supporting local families in the community is very important to intu Lakeside and more than £27,000 is donated to causes that benefit those living near the shopping centre each and every year.

Callum was diagnosed with a genetic condition called Pelizaeus Merzbacher Disease (PMD) after his child minder and mum were both concerned that he did not kick about when lying in his cot. Aged 1½ Callum was taken to Great Ormond Street Hospital where he was referred to a neurologist and then a geneticist before finally having the test for PMD.

The condition is similar to cerebral palsy. Callum has difficulties walking because his brain scrambles the messages to his legs so he relies on his wheelchair. The condition causes leg spasms but these are controlled by medication.

When Callum was asked what his one wish was by Make-A-Wish Foundation® UK, Callum said he wanted to get up close to and swim with dolphins. His wish was granted and Callum had an amazing time, even meeting his own special dolphin called CJ.

Commenting on the experience, his mum said: “This is a wish that will stay with us forever and the only downside was when we had to return home. Callum wanted to stay.”

Izzie Peskett, intu Lakeside’s Marketing Manager, said: “intu Lakeside has a loyal family shopper base so supporting local children like Callum is very important to us. With our £4,000 donation, Make-A-Wish has been able to make truly memorable wishes just like Callum in Ilford’s come true; it’s a charity that deserves a tremendous amount of support.”

There are currently 20,000 children and young people in the UK fighting a life-threatening condition and this year Make-A-Wish will grant over 1,100 wishes. The charity needs to raise £7 million in 2013 to achieve this and receives no government funding or lottery grants – so every donation really does count. To refer a child for a wish or to make a donation, please visit: www.make-a-wish.org.uk or telephone 01276 40 50 60.

Following the success of the 2012 competition, intu (owner of intu Lakeside) is delighted to again work in partnership with Elite Model Look UK, with Colgate Max White ONE as the official location partner, exclusively hosting events at 5 locations across the UK.

This prestigious model search has launched the careers of Cindy Crawford, Gisele Bundchen, Sigrid Agren and more recently, UK models-of-the-moment, Nyasha Matonhodze and last year’s female winner Gillian Matthew who was successfully scouted at the Regional Casting event at intu Braehead in Glasgow.

Contestants from 2012 have already realised a huge amount, including shooting for British Vogue, Wonderland, i-D and Hunger Magazine walking for the likes of Mulberry, Richard Nicoll, J.W. Anderson and Topman at London Fashion Week and working for major clients such as Burberry, Rankin and Topshop in the short amount of time since the competition ended in August 2012.

Elite Model Look UK scouts will pick 24 UK finalists, 12 girls and 12 boys who will be whisked off for an intensive week-long model bootcamp. Local guys and girls have the chance to go from shopping in intu Lakeside straight into catwalk training, hair and make-up tutorials, health and fitness advice and confidence coaching.

Judges will pick one female and one male winner on the night who will both be offered 3-year Elite Model Management contracts. The female will also get the chance to take part in the event of a lifetime, the Elite Model Look World Final. Last year’s final was held in Shanghai and consisted of a two week model boot-camp. The Elite Model Look World Final is a global event that will result in an international modelling contract.

Additionally, one lucky finalist will also win the chance to be the new face of Colgate Max White ONE for its next advertising campaign.

Izzie Peskett, Marketing Manager at intu Lakeside, commented, “We are delighted to be involved once again in the Elite tour this year. Following the success of last year’s competition, we are really excited to be involved to hopefully give another one of our shoppers the opportunity to win such a fantastic and life changing prize.”

With the introduction of free WiFi, boyfriends can stream the latest goals to their mobile while waiting outside the changing rooms, teenagers can ‘check in’ on Facebook and upload pictures of their new purchases and everyone can Google a new hair style or outfit whilst enjoying a cup of coffee.

Intu’s research indicates that almost half of UK internet users make use of the internet at some stage of the shopping process and that the traditional boundaries of online and offline shopping experiences are becoming more blurred.

Intu is the UK’s first landlord to install a fully owned fibre optic network for its shopping centres. The investment will deliver high quality, high speed WiFi throughout the whole centre that shoppers can use for free whenever they visit – without having to register each and every time.

Izzie Peskett, intu Lakeside’s Marketing Manager, said: “Shopping habits have moved on incredibly quickly over the last few years and will continue to do so. By investing in our infrastructure, we are ensuring that we are prepared for the future and for how shopping habits will develop over the coming years.”

Are you ready to surf and shop simultaneously?

Inspired by the styles seen on the likes of Rihanna, Jay-Z and Cameron Diaz, Jean Genie will treat shoppers to a unique styling experience for FREE, with expert stylists on hand to help shoppers solve their denim dilemmas. They’ll also be able to pick up some extra ideas on how to complete the look, including shoes and accessories from the stores within intu Lakeside.

The styling pod will be located in the Central Atrium and shoppers will be able to turn up on the day for one-to-one consultations with their very own Jean Genie. Shoppers will also pocket a £5 Gift Card to spend if they purchase a Jean Genie recommendation and show receipts to Customer Service staff.

Izzie Peskett, intu Lakeside’s Marketing Manager, commented, “We are extremely excited to be hosting the Jean Genie campaign for the third year. Our stylists have helped hundred of shoppers to find their perfect pair and our teams are on hand once again to provide women and men with the chance to discover their perfect jeans whilst being educated on which styles and cuts work best for their body shape. I hope that shoppers come out in force to take advantage of such a great free service.”

Part of a project to replace air handling units on the roof of the shopping centre, the crane was delivered to the intu Lakeside site by 20 separate lorries over three days and two smaller cranes were used to put it all together.

The excited youngsters learnt about the logistics of transporting such a big piece of machinery around Europe, and even got to climb up to the raised cab from which the arm of the crane is controlled. All of them received a certificate to commemorate their experience and a goody bag to take home.

Jack Atkins, age 11 from Dartford, said: “The crane is massive; it’s brilliant. I can’t wait to show everyone at school my certificate and tell them about what I got to do over the Easter holidays.”

Izzie Peskett, intu Lakeside’s Marketing Manager, said: “While we had such an impressive piece of machinery on site we wanted to treat some enthusiastic young shoppers to an experience they’d never forget. This was certainly a ‘big’ experience and we hope they’ll take away some great memories.”

Join comical characters including Alice, the Mad Hatter and the Queen of Hearts; Tinkerbell, Peter Pan and Captain Hook and help the Little Lake Monsters save Wonderland.

Every day between 10am and 5pm there’ll be performances, craft activities and plenty of fun and games for all of the family to enjoy – and, best of all, it’s completely free of charge.

For more information on all of the fun at Lakeside, visit www.lakeside.uk.com.

TWELVE students from local schools spent last week with Essex Fire Authority learning new skills, self discipline and responsibility, thanks to funding by Lakeside Shopping Centre.

The “Firebreak” scheme combines practical skills with scenario based training promoting teamwork, leadership and motivation. £4,000 worth of funding from Lakeside has enabled 12 students from The Ockendon School; Ormiston Park Academy; William Edwards; The Harris Academy and The Grays School to attend a week-long course at Corringham fire station.

Lakeside made the decision to support the scheme because its aims of instilling a sense of self-worth and self-confidence in young people, encouraging them to respect differences between people and urging them to play an active role in their community, entirely matched Lakeside’s own community goals.

Paul Lancaster, Lakeside’s General Manager, said: “Supporting young people is one of the main aims of all of our community projects and this important work carried out by Essex Fire Authority deserved our full support. Fire-fighters are fantastic role models and we believe that this kind of direct, positive contact with them can help improve young people’s lives and have a positive impact on their future.”

At the end of the programme, each student received a Chief Fire Officer’s Certificate of Achievement and an AQA award (equivalent of a GCSE pass).

For more information about Lakeside’s community projects, visit: http://www.lakeside.uk.com/About-Us/Corporate-Responsibility.

Jo is the star of Channel 4’s Supernanny and Extreme Parental Guidance series which have become a god-send to parents with challenging children.

Jo will be at Waterstones on Friday, from 11am until 12.30pm to promote her book Jo Frost’s Toddler SOS.

The book focuses on the toddler years, which can test even the most patient and energetic of parents.

In this new book, Jo provides her invaluable advice on the hot-spots of toddler care and answers problems including tantrums, whining, potty-training, sleeping and mealtimes.

Jo is one of the UK’s leading childcare and baby experts and author of number one bestsellers Confident Baby Care and Confident Toddler Care.

In her new parenting guide, Jo will cover topics such as ‘How do I get my toddler to eat vegetables?’, ‘What do I do when my toddler has a tantrum in public?’ and ‘How do I teach my toddler to share?’.

Jo Frost’s Toddler SOS: Solutions for the Trying Toddler Years is published by Orion. It costs £16.99 for a hardback or £8.99 for an eBook.

Local Bokwa groups surprised shoppers early in the morning and, throughout the afternoon, local Rock Choir members sung their hearts out and Southend street dance crew Designed Kaos performed to raise money for Comic Relief.

“Comic Relief is coming up on 15^th March so we have some exciting events planned for our shoppers this weekend,” hinted Izzie Peskett, Marketing Manager for Lakeside. “We can’t reveal exactly what they are yet – we wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise – but we can guarantee lots of fun, high energy and some surprising sights.”

The events will be taking place between 10am and 3:30pm in the Central Atrium at Lakeside.

Designed to support local charities, community groups and other good causes, Lakeside’s Heart of the Community fund gives £500 to two local charities every month. In 2012, 24 diverse and deserving causes were supported, ranging from hospitals to pre-schools, scout groups to food banks.

Izzie Peskett, Lakeside’s Marketing Manager, says: “Heart of the Community is Lakeside’s way of bringing a bit of joy to the local community by supporting important projects and the people who run them – but we need people to let us know how they’d like us to help next. Send us a nomination and we’ll do our very best to make an even bigger difference this year.”

Members of the local community are invited to nominate worthy charities that could benefit from a £500 donation. From a new bench for a charity’s garden, to new toys for a hospice, or even materials for painting a room in a care home – all suggestions are welcome. Lakeside will choose two charities every month from the nominations and reward them with a contribution towards a specific project or piece of equipment that they require.

The name change is part of the owner’s (Capital Shopping Centre’s £25 million rebranding of 12 of its 15 centres.

But there has been a mixed response from residents and shoppers.

Infact Chafford resident, Natasha Silverman has gone as far to set up a facebook page in protest.

Natasha said: “We love you, Lakeside. We have been loyal shoppers since the beginning and have spent much time (and more money than we care to think about) in the Temple of Lakeside. Please don’t ruin it now.”

But other shoppers did not seem to mind.

Jill Aylott from Harlow said: “I can’t say I am bothered. As long as there are spaces in the car park and the shops have what I want, I don’t care what they call it.”

Having begun her career with marketing roles for Borders (UK) Ltd and WHSmith PLC, Izzie moved into the commercial property sector as Marketing Manager for Capital & Regional PLC in 2007. She was promoted to National Marketing Manager in 2011.

She comments: “It’s an incredibly exciting time to be joining the team at Lakeside since the centre was recently granted planning consent for a £180m extension that will increase the size of the mall by almost a third. I am really looking forward to developing new integrated, results-led campaigns for Lakeside and leading the dynamic team that’s already in place.”

Lakeside also recruited a new Assistant Marketing Manager in December. Katie White returned to Lakeside (where she worked as Marketing Coordinator from 2009 to 2012), from a similar role at Capital Shopping Centres’ The Glades in Bromley.