New Zed Adventures CQB Site - 'Z-mart' in Newbury

[Rogerborg]

9 minutes ago, Asomodai said:

 

Is non rateable area stuff like stairs/escalators and voids?

 

Edit: Or is it just Google maps inaccuracies?

 

Good question, 550m² difference is quite big.  Let's find out.

 

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/how-non-domestic-property-including-plant-and-machinery-is-valued#measuring-methods

 

The net internal area (NIA) method of measurement is generally applied to:

• offices
• shops
• other retail premises, such as banks, hairdressers, restaurants

Net internal area

The net internal area (NIA) is the total usable area of each floor within a building, measured to the inside face of the boundary walls (ignoring skirting boards).

Areas measured include:

• kitchens
• any built-in cupboards or units that occupy usable areas
• perimeter skirting boards, mouldings and trunking
• open circulation areas such as atria, corridors and entrance halls
• Partition walls and other dividing elements

Areas that are excluded are:

• internal structural walls
• walls (whether structural or not) enclosing excluded areas
• piers, columns, chimney breasts, ducts and other projections
• cleaner’s cupboards
• lifts, lift rooms, lift wells
• stairwells and landings
• stairwells, entrance halls, atria, landings and balconies used in common or for essential access
• corridors and other circulation areas used in common with other occupiers or of a permanent essential nature
• boiler rooms, fuel stores, plant rooms and tank rooms other than those of a trade process nature
• car parking areas
• spaces occupied by cooling and heating equipment, air conditioning systems and ducting which renders the space substantially unusable
• areas with a headroom of less than 1.5m
• toilets and associated lobbies, unless additional toilets have been installed
• areas under the control of service or other external authorities

[Asomodai]

2 minutes ago, Rogerborg said:

 

Good question, 550m² difference is quite big.  Let's find out.

 

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/how-non-domestic-property-including-plant-and-machinery-is-valued#measuring-methods

 

The net internal area (NIA) method of measurement is generally applied to:

• offices
• shops
• other retail premises, such as banks, hairdressers, restaurants

Net internal area

The net internal area (NIA) is the total usable area of each floor within a building, measured to the inside face of the boundary walls (ignoring skirting boards).

Areas measured include:

• kitchens
• any built-in cupboards or units that occupy usable areas
• perimeter skirting boards, mouldings and trunking
• open circulation areas such as atria, corridors and entrance halls
• Partition walls and other dividing elements

Areas that are excluded are:

• internal structural walls
• walls (whether structural or not) enclosing excluded areas
• piers, columns, chimney breasts, ducts and other projections
• cleaner’s cupboards
• lifts, lift rooms, lift wells
• stairwells and landings
• stairwells, entrance halls, atria, landings and balconies used in common or for essential access
• corridors and other circulation areas used in common with other occupiers or of a permanent essential nature
• boiler rooms, fuel stores, plant rooms and tank rooms other than those of a trade process nature
• car parking areas
• spaces occupied by cooling and heating equipment, air conditioning systems and ducting which renders the space substantially unusable
• areas with a headroom of less than 1.5m
• toilets and associated lobbies, unless additional toilets have been installed
• areas under the control of service or other external authorities

 

Awesome! The Google maps area sounds about right taking the excluded areas. 

[Rogerborg]

18 minutes ago, Asomodai said:

Awesome! The Google maps area sounds about right taking the excluded areas. 

 

Yup, it's a reasonable size if they get enough cover in.  A single staircase / escalator would be a bit of a challenge. I'd put a riot shield on it which can be used to push up or down but then has to be left at the top or bottom once you've got there.

 

Being in an occupied shopping centre is also going to be... interesting.  The site staff and local police would have to be well briefed, and I'd expect some Special Walt will open-carry in or out sooner or later.

 

I hope they make a good go of it, it's a brave move to go "legit" like that.

[Asomodai]

Just now, Rogerborg said:

 

Yup, it's a reasonable size if they get enough cover in.  A single staircase / escalator would be a bit of a challenge. I'd put a riot shield on it which can be used to push up or down but then has to be left at the top or bottom once you've got there.

 

Being in an occupied shopping centre is also going to be... interesting.  The site staff and local police would have to be well briefed, and I'd be expert that some Special Walt will open-carry in or out sooner or later.

 

I hope they make a good go of it, it's a brave move to go "legit" like that.

 

There might be a couple of auxiliary stairwells hopefully. 

 

I can imagine there will be a fair few casuals turning up the games off the street as well. Might stick to private booking!

[Rogerborg]

11 minutes ago, Asomodai said:

I can imagine there will be a fair few casuals turning up the games off the street as well. Might stick to private booking!

 

They'll need all the business through the door they can get in order to cover their costs.

 

I mention that because I recently noticed that the rates bill alone for the close-to-derelict Depot building in Glasgow is £184,332 a year.  It's a shared site with electric dirt bikes and iCombat laser pew-pews as well, but even so, that's eye watering.  Racking up £3,621 a week with no income for 6 months and not a squeak out of them since July, I'm getting rather fearful that they may have just ghosted.

 

Operating out of retail premises, I'd expect Zed will have to run it like a regular daily business rather than just weekend big-bang sessions.  It'll be really interesting to see if they can pull it off.

[hitmanNo2]

They could do something like that place in London with electronic targets.  Book a 30 min plinking time attack session etc during the day.  Make people have to book for the first time so you have verified names in case any chavs/other undesirables decide to start pissing about.  Then have some form of membership so you can stroll in off the street and do a bit of target shooting if you've got some time to kill in the area.

[Cr0-Magnon]

1 hour ago, Asomodai said:

 

Awesome! The Google maps area sounds about right taking the excluded areas. 

 

Not trying to be elitist but as someone who frequents a site where you get a lot of stag party type groups, this has got to be a concern. Too many of the ones I've encountered are literally there just to piss around with BB guns, regardless of the rule-set.

[Robert James]

I got excited thinking it would be a big area. It seems its just a shop. I know Debenham had big shops in shopping centres but its going to be different. 

2 hours ago, Asomodai said:

@Robert James Come out of retirement and organise a private game day!.... Go annnnn!

Nope. Lewis maybe

[L3wisD]

We'll see what their booking system is like and what days etc first, but I think an AFUK Zed day is well overdue.

 

Also, a group of us on facebook have decided to call this new site: Zedenhams 

 

[Asomodai]

24 minutes ago, L3wisD said:

We'll see what their booking system is like and what days etc first, but I think an AFUK Zed day is well overdue.

 

Also, a group of us on facebook have decided to call this new site: Zedenhams 

 

 

Awesome. Hook a brother up  

 

 

[Rogerborg]

2 hours ago, hitmanNo2 said:

They could do something like that place in London with electronic targets.  Book a 30 min plinking time attack session etc during the day.  Make people have to book for the first time so you have verified names in case any chavs/other undesirables decide to start pissing about.  Then have some form of membership so you can stroll in off the street and do a bit of target shooting if you've got some time to kill in the area.

 

That's a good shout for a walk-in site.  That said, I've tried the Attack Sense range at the Depot, and shooting from booths is... well, meh, really, I only did it on a free intro day, mostly just to use the chrono and get some hops dialled in so as not to waste time on the next game day.

 

For a pay session, I'd want quite a bit of variety, or up the ante to walkabout practical-shooting, both of which require more staff and supervision, so more costs.

 

 

1 hour ago, Cr0-Magnon said:

Not trying to be elitist but as someone who frequents a site where you get a lot of stag party type groups, this has got to be a concern. Too many of the ones I've encountered are literally there just to piss around with BB guns, regardless of the rule-set.

 

That's a valid concern, I wouldn't want anyone on site who doesn't actively want to be there to play airsoft as a (looks around) sport.

 

I really hope they can find a way to make it work, as I'd love to see CQB sites being a bit less post-apocalypse and a bit more valet parking.

 

[Lozart]

3 hours ago, Asomodai said:

 

I can imagine there will be a fair few casuals turning up the games off the street as well. Might stick to private booking!

 

There was always "out for a laugh" rentals at The Mall. That said a few of them played well and took their hits better than some of the multicam crowd!

[Asomodai]

19 minutes ago, Lozart said:

 

There was always "out for a laugh" rentals at The Mall. That said a few of them played well and took their hits better than some of the multicam crowd!

 

Are any of us part of the Multiglam crowd?!?

[Lozart]

Just now, Asomodai said:

 

Are any of us part of the Multiglam crowd?!?

 

Depends...do you wear multiglam and believe yourself to be surrounded by an invisible shield that prevents any and all BB hits?

[Cr0-Magnon]

Interesting thing about the announcement...

 

Kennet Shopping FB Page - 4850 page likes - 524 comments on this post - 271 shares

Zed Adventures FB Page - 11396 page likes - 59 comments on this post - 25 shares

 

How come there's so much more traction on the page with fewer likes?

[Rogerborg]

51 minutes ago, Lozart said:

There was always "out for a laugh" rentals at The Mall. That said a few of them played well and took their hits better than some of the multicam crowd!

 

True, everyone who tries it is a potential keeper.  And there are plenty of "didn't feel it, mate" God Moders among the 3-deep-mag-stack cammers.

 

One consideration though is that casual and one-off players are more likely to leave a bad review if they're not treated with kid gloves, so once you start down that path, it might be hard to get serious about dealing with overkill-and-teflon types.

[L3wisD]

It's going to be called "Z-Mart"

 

[hitmanNo2]

Shop smart.  Shop Z Mart.

 

 

[Lozart]

16 hours ago, Cr0-Magnon said:

Interesting thing about the announcement...

 

Kennet Shopping FB Page - 4850 page likes - 524 comments on this post - 271 shares

Zed Adventures FB Page - 11396 page likes - 59 comments on this post - 25 shares

 

How come there's so much more traction on the page with fewer likes?

 

 

It's all about the reach and the percentages. The Kennet Shopping Centre page has a wider audience that is interested in the general use of the site. They would be more likely to want retail opportunities because that has a wider appeal and as a result has a bigger audience. The Zed page most likely has a smaller audience but far more of them will be in favour of it hence all the likes. If you actually read some of the comments on the Kennet page you'll see that there's a lot of people who don't understand what it's about to become (all the "ooo something for the kids to do" and "can my 12 yr old come" posts) and the ones that want it to be another retail venture. I do have concerns over just how long it'll take for the complaints to start coming in about the area being awash with camo and "all that noise". Add to that just how long we'll need to wait for some nob to forget he's got a holstered pistol on and the ARU to rock up and it could get a bit tricky.

[rj1986]

Lots of facebook comments being overall positive. And apart from one guy, no "think of the children" types

[Lozart]

58 minutes ago, rj1986 said:

Lots of facebook comments being overall positive. And apart from one guy, no "think of the children" types

 

Not "think of the children" in a bad way, more "oooo something for the kids to do" types. Fair few asking if their 8 year olds can do it etc, plus the obligatory "Why can't we have a decent clothes shop" and "could of put in a bowling alley". Pretty sure there's a good few of the non specific "boys birthdays?" questions to spouses are also going to be the ones thinking it's soft play with camo.

[rj1986]

7 minutes ago, Lozart said:

 

Not "think of the children" in a bad way, more "oooo something for the kids to do" types. Fair few asking if their 8 year olds can do it etc, plus the obligatory "Why can't we have a decent clothes shop" and "could of put in a bowling alley". Pretty sure there's a good few of the non specific "boys birthdays?" questions to spouses are also going to be the ones thinking it's soft play with camo.

 

If there is enough interest, wonder if they could do de-tuned rentals (or rentals with easy change springs) or nerf or gel blasters?

 

Growing the sport and footfall among "outsiders" would only be a good thing if parents can see that it isnt about turning over post offices given half the chance.

[Lozart]

Just now, rj1986 said:

 

If there is enough interest, wonder if they could do de-tuned rentals (or rentals with easy change springs) or nerf or gel blasters?

 

Depends if the insurance covers it. Given the style of Zed I doubt that catering to ickle kids is on their radar (more likely to get a themed experience more akin to the zombie/post apocalypse stuff they did before).

[Groot]

I loved the mall, RIP.

Hopefully this site is bigger than it looks on paper

 

[Rogerborg]

2 hours ago, Lozart said:

it's soft play with camo

 

"It's literally got 'soft' in the name, why is Little Johnny bleeding?"

 

 

2 hours ago, Lozart said:

Depends if the insurance covers it. Given the style of Zed I doubt that catering to ickle kids is on their radar (more likely to get a themed experience more akin to the zombie/post apocalypse stuff they did before).

 

Dollah though.  The Depot run https://www.icombat.com/ laser-pew in a subsection that's kept better swept up.  Once you're paying the overheads, you might as well be using the place as not.