Rank Group Gaming Division and Kew Green Hotels are the latest operators to take space at Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth.

Rank, the first gaming company to operate at Portsmouth Harbour's £200m mixed-use development, has signed a 25-year lease with developer Berkeley Commercial for a Grosvenor Casino. The casino will offer a variety of gaming as well as a fully-licensed bar and a restaurant. The lease includes a 15-year tenancy option break and five-yearly rent reviews.

Rank's acquisition manager, Matthew Chaytor, said Gunwharf Quays was an ideal location for casino: 'It attracts a huge number of customers every week, looking for exciting leisure and entertainment facilities, as well as sophisticated shopping.'

Meanwhile, Kew Green Hotels. The budget hotel operator from Express by Holiday inn, has signed a 35-year lease for a 130-room hotel to operate under the Express by Holiday Inn brand. The hotel is due to open in September 2003 and will help counter the shortage of budget accommodation in the area. Portsmouth attracts some six million visitors a year contributing around £320m to the local economy, but the increasing number of visitors has outpaced the supply of budget hotel facilities.