This week, Friars Walk, Newport won the coveted New Centre of the Year award at the Revo Gold Awards. Developed by owners Queensberry, the £100 million scheme was recognised by the award at the Revo Annual Dinner and Gold Awards.
12 months on from the opening of Friars Walk and the city is unrecognizable, it has transformed at every level. National retailers, restaurateurs and major employers have now been attracted to Newport. Over 1,500 jobs have been created and Newport has a first-class retail, F&B and leisure offer at Friars Walk and increasingly throughout the city. Newport has risen nearly 100 places up the retail rankings to 77th. This has all been secured by the commercial success of this incredible regeneration initiative.
The vision was for a landmark development to meet Newport’s aspirations, while also connecting a previously disjointed part of the cityscape between the River Usk and the existing retail core on Commercial Street.
Peter Courtney, Chair of the Revo Gold Awards Jury and Director at Lunson Mitchenall commented: “In 2011, when Friars Walk achieved planning consent, Newport city centre was in total decline with retail relocations to out of town retail parks, a non-existent food & beverage offering and no quality leisure offer. Nine months on from opening Queensberry has transformed Friars Walk with a first-class retail and F&B and leisure offer at the scheme and throughout the city. National retailers, restauranteurs and major employers have now been attracted to Newport. Resulting from a ground-breaking private-public partnership, the benefits to both have been significant.”
Paul Sargent, Chief Executive and Co-Founder, Queensberry: “It’s fantastic to win this award, this is my 4th consecutive win of a Revo award and the first as Queensberry. It’s always an honour being chosen by your peers. It’s a great example of public/private partnership working at its best. Within 5 years we have become market leaders, we have expanded our team to 18, we have a diverse development pipeline throughout the UK and this this award is testament to our results focussed approach.”
Queensberry worked in partnership with Newport City Council to develop Friars Walk.