The Beating Heart of Newcastle
A symbol of the Newcastle community for almost 50 years, Eldon Square proves not all shopping schemes are made equal. To learn more about this transformation between XPE Group PLC and Newcastle City Council, we spent some time with Barry Cox, XPE Group PLC Director and Michelle Percy, NCC Director of Investment and Growth to better understand the programme that is evolving the city centre.
The investment into Eldon Square is part of a £162M public-private investment programme that will reposition the retail offer in Newcastle city centre. It will feature investment into four key areas, £65M into Eldon Square, £50M into a City Centre Transformation Programme, £40M into Fenwick and the surrounding public realm (Brunswick Place) and finally a £7M investment into the Grade 1-listed Grainger Market.
“As an ownership board, Newcastle City Council (NCC) together with XPE Group PLC, have collaborated with a new energy that is set to supercharge not just Eldon Square, but also its contribution to the overarching ambitions of the city,” explains Michelle Percy, NCC Director of Investment. “Our vision for the future of Newcastle is for a city transformed by investment in people and places, a city where investors and developers are committed to social impact and a city where public-private partnerships work hard to improve the health, wealth and wellbeing of residents and communities.”
“Eldon Square is the pride of Newcastle and as Michelle says, we are fiercely proud to be part of the city. We are a driving force at the heart of change as the city steps into a new era of regeneration and national recognition,” comments Barry Cox, XPE Group PLC Director. “Together with NCC, we involved a number of key Newcastle stakeholders and community representatives in planning Eldon Square’s new brand strategy. These included Newcastle United FC, NGI, NE1, the universities and Invest Newcastle, along with some of our anchor retail and leisure tenants.”
With a vision of creating a space that goes beyond merely food and drink, but one that incorporates music, culture and community, the introduction of innovative and immersive entertainment brands such as the upcoming 60,000sq ft Freight Island and Flight Club opening later this year, will offer a next-level experience that elevates Newcastle’s status as a vibrant cultural destination and social hub.
Highlighting this era of innovation and community, the city’s premier innovation district, the £450M Newcastle Helix has quickly established itself as one of Europe’s most important revolution hubs and is home to hundreds of dynamic companies that are creating highly skilled jobs in the industries of the future.
The scheme continues to attract inward investment from global businesses and this is evident within the new launches into its retail offering. Launched last September, Sephora’s 6,600sq ft store at Eldon Square has been a huge success and surpassed all expectations and continues to deliver strong commercial results months after opening, as well as being a hit with shoppers of all ages.
“Alongside exciting retail openings, we are expanding the scheme’s F&B offering with popular restaurant brand Wingstop among the latest to open at Eldon Square,” highlights Barry. “As well as new openings, our tenants are undergoing significant inward investment, with 13 units either completed or on site with a total investment of £28.65M and four more units investing across H1 2025.”
These include NEXT’s new 60,000sq ft store, along with River Island relocating and upsizing to a new 20,000sq ft concept store.
Valuing Eldon Square’s role in the community, NCC and XPE continuously look for ways to create social value. Its central location means it is perfectly placed to bring people together and contribute to the sense of belonging and community that are fundamental to the scheme’s ethos and continued success.
This has become evident as Newcastle has become a hotbed for foreign direct investment, with 29 new companies opening an employment site in the city in 2023/2024, offering more than 1,700 new jobs.
Following the appointment of Pradera Lateral as asset manager in November 2022, the Co-operation Agreement between XPE Group PLC as leaseholder and Newcastle City Council as the long-term freeholder in Eldon Square was unveiled last year, providing a great example of public and private sectors working together in agile ways to achieve faster growth and sustainable success.
“It is an exciting time for businesses and retailers to invest in Newcastle. The city is building around one million square feet of Grade A commercial space, including a new Government hub for HMRC, which will bring 9,000 additional workers into the heart of Newcastle. This investment creates jobs and changes perceptions of the city, which in turn attracts global brands and brings in more visitors,” Barry comments.
“The partnership is a unique collaboration based on understanding each other’s ambitions and what we have created with XPE to reposition Eldon Square for the future is a real strength,” adds Michelle.
“It has been successful because at every stage, we have had open, constructive conversations about what works and what doesn’t for the city and we share in the same vision – a commercially driven approach that also delivers social value.”
Discussing such an expansive and wide-ranging scheme means our time with Michelle and Barry quickly runs short. As we near the end of the our time, Michelle comments that the evolution of shopping centres and the high street is about moving beyond the traditional services that these places provide and instead become urban hubs capable of delivering a much broader scope of city centre functions.
Barry follows this by saying that to stay ahead of trends and to ensure the scheme remains relevant, they work closely with their research partners CACI, together with Pradera Lateral’s own data and insights team and marketing agency BWP, to ensure their business and marketing strategy is built on robust data and trends analysis.
“Every partner we work with has to absolutely understand our DNA, which is about growth in our city, but this can come through in all different ways. It is about bringing all these ambitions together and delivering against them. Delivery has to be our word of choice in the next two years,” says Michelle.
“We will be sharing more details on the Eldon Square rebrand and what this means for the future at MIPIM. Come and chat to us on the Newcastle stand or join our drinks reception to see what we are all about,” Barry concludes.
www.eldonsquare.co.uk
