How to Develop a Food Hall: Getting It Right From Day One

Empty department stores, underused basements and tired retail units are a genuine challenge for town and city centres. They drag on footfall, confidence and investment. But the answer is not simply to point at the void and decide it should become a food hall. A food hall can be a powerful solution, but only when the numbers, the market and the operating model are aligned from the start. Without that alignment, even the most exciting concept can become an expensive, short-lived experiment.

Right now, everyone is talking about food halls. Councils. Landlords. Developers. Investors. They have become a default response to large vacant buildings. But while food halls can thrive, they can also fail quickly if the fundamentals are glossed over. Getting those fundamentals right is what separates a successful destination from a costly misstep. This is where experienced food hall consultants make a genuine difference.

At Next Phase, we specialise in food halls, markets and multi-operator destinations. We work with clients to test feasibility, build robust business cases, shape concepts and produce layouts that function in real-world operations. Below are the five core principles we assess when determining whether a site is suitable for food hall development and how it should be designed.

Scroll down to read our key points for success.

1. Start With the Business Case

A food hall lives or dies on its commercial model. Before sketching units or picking lighting, you need to know whether the concept can financially stand on its own feet.

Income potential

What can the space realistically earn from rent, service charge, bar revenue and events? This is the anchor of the entire model. It dictates how many kitchens the site can sensibly support before turnover becomes diluted.

The golden ratio

Designers often pack in as many kitchens as possible to create visual impact on paper, but that's rarely a recipe for success. Too many kitchens weaken takings and undermine operator stability. Too few and the offer feels thin. Our modelling identifies the ideal ratio based on footfall, concept and location.

Operator turnover

Each kitchen must be able to trade at a healthy level. If operators are battling for the same spend, the venue becomes unstable. Our feasibility process ensures the operator mix has sufficient market share per unit to deliver a commercially sustainable offer.

2. Understand the Market Around You

Competition analysis

Your competition isn't limited to other food halls. You're up against restaurants, pubs, casual dining chains, independents, takeaways, dark kitchens and late-night venues. Too few ancillary offers and your venue risks becoming an island. Understanding where and how people already spend their money is fundamental to any serious food hall feasibility assessment.

Catchment insight

While there is significant overlap, broadly daytime-led destinations attract families, remote workers and shoppers. Evening-led venues lean towards younger audiences and wet-led trade. Each profile affects layout, seating style, unit numbers and revenue potential. We analyse the behavioural patterns that shape commercial performance.

3. Designing a Space That Works Operationally

Food hall design is not just an aesthetic exercise. Every design choice affects customer experience, dwell time, queue management, service levels, turnover and ultimately the financial outcome.

Seating styles

The right mix of seating directly influences behaviour. We work with combinations of tables and chairs, shared benches, bistro or café seating, high tables, and lounge or softer seating zones. Each type encourages different dwell times and different spending patterns.

Circulation and flow

Movement needs change depending on your audience. A daytime, family-friendly space requires wider routes, buggy-friendly aisles and larger pinch points. An evening, wet-led venue can operate with a tighter footprint. These decisions shape the customer experience and the venue's earning potential.

Back of house and servicing

Servicing is the backbone of a reliable operation. Deliveries, waste, prep, storage, equipment access and staff circulation must be mapped properly. Poor planning here leads to friction, cost escalation and operational bottlenecks.

Delivery and digital trade

Food halls are now significant delivery hubs. Kitchens need structured areas for drivers, a pick-up strategy and the ability to handle digital orders without disrupting dine-in customers.

Crockery vs biodegradable disposables

This single decision shapes the entire back-of-house model. It impacts dishwash capacity, kiosk sizes, staffing requirements and sustainability commitments. We help clients understand the operational and commercial implications before locking in a direction.

4. Defining the Optimum Management Model 

A food hall’s long-term performance depends on selecting the right management model from the outset. Councils are rarely set up to run commercial venues, yet the private sector does not always offer an operator with the right capability, risk appetite or place-based understanding. The solution might be a straightforward lease, a management agreement, a landlord-led model or a more collaborative partnership structure such as a ‘properator’ approach. Each comes with different costs, responsibilities and incentives, and none is universally right. The model must match the location.

Cost and risk

Lease arrangements, management agreements and hybrid partnerships all distribute cost, control and operational risk differently. Staffing, compliance, maintenance and lifecycle investment fall in different places depending on the model. Without a clear cost–benefit assessment, it is easy to choose a structure that looks workable at launch but cannot support stable trading over time.

Market fit

The management approach needs to reflect the scale of the site, the expected footfall and the commercial realities of the local market. Some locations demand an experienced operator with a fully integrated offer. Others benefit from a landlord-led structure or a lower-intensity model with tighter control. We assess how each option performs against local demand and operator capacity to ensure it is commercially realistic.

Establishing the right management model early creates the foundation for a professional launch and a resilient operation. It aligns incentives, reduces risk and gives the venue the best chance of sustained success long after opening day.

5. Getting the Vendor Mix Right

Kitchen mix and cohesion

A strong operator lineup is a balance of variety, quality and commercial logic. Too many similar vendors cannibalise each other. Too niche and you restrict your audience. Too safe and you lose identity. We curate mixes that attract the right crowd and give each trader the market share they need to thrive, based on the nation’s largest dataset evidencing turnover potential.

Lease structures and flexibility

The way vendors are appointed and contracted has a direct impact on stability and performance. Clear, realistic lease or licence structures help operators trade confidently while enabling the venue to evolve its offer over time. Short, flexible terms support regular refresh and reduce barriers for strong independents. Longer terms may suit proven brands that can anchor the offer. The key is finding the right balance of commitment, affordability and flexibility so the lineup can adapt without disrupting the overall concept.

Why Work With Next Phase

We deliver food halls, markets, meanwhile spaces and multi-operator destinations across the UK. Our work combines feasibility analysis, commercial modelling, operational strategy, and practical design intelligence. We know how these venues operate day to day because we've worked as operators, consultants,  and regeneration specialists.

We also understand how important it is to build the right thinking into a project from the very beginning. We regularly slot into wider design teams to make sure the commercial model, servicing strategy and operational requirements are in place before drawings are locked in. It avoids costly retrofits later and gives the whole team a clearer framework to design within.

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Every project has moments where an operational detail gets missed. It might be a bar without a practical cellar, or a kitchen cluster that creates challenges once deliveries, waste or staff movement are mapped out. Spotting these details early is often where we add the most value.

Our approach is simple. We create concepts rooted in commercial reality, shaped by genuine local demand and built for long-term success. We don't sell a dream. We build deliverable plans backed by a clear business case and layouts that work for the operator, the landlord and the wider place.

Let's Talk About Your Project

If you're exploring whether a food hall could work for your site, we'd be glad to help you think it through. The idea might be perfect. It might need refining. Or it might need a different direction entirely. Whatever the outcome, we'll give you a straight answer.

Get in touch with us here to arrange an initial conversation.