CBRE has appointed Neil Churchill as centre director for Festival Place, Basingstoke, the largest retail and dining destination in North Hampshire. Integral to the centre’s ongoing regeneration, Neil’s expertise will help drive forward the final stages of Festival Place’s transformation and repositioning to attract the wider, affluent catchment into Basingstoke Town Centre.
Neil will join the team at Festival Place, which is managed by CBRE, from his position as general manager at Southside Wandsworth shopping centre where he oversaw the £30 million extension and reconfiguration of the scheme. Neil brings a wealth of retail and shopping centre management experience having worked in a management role at retail destinations in London and the South East for more than 18 years.
Neil Churchill, Centre Director at Festival Place, said: “The coming months are an exciting time for Festival Place as we approach the completion of the repositioning works, and I am thrilled to be part of the centre’s transformation. We recently announced that Cote Brasserie and Jack Wills will open in Basingstoke for the first time. Both names demonstrate the high-quality, aspirational brands that Festival Place continues to attract and the wider, affluent catchment that the scheme is increasingly drawing in.”
Pippa Rangecroft, Director, Property & Asset Management, CBRE, said: “We are delighted that Neil Churchill has joined the team at Festival Place. Neil’s experience in retail management will further strengthen the team and drive forward the exciting plans for the final stages of Festival Place’s repositioning programme which will reaffirm the centre as a leading retail destination”.
Festival Place is a top 20 UK shopping centre, according to Trevor Wood Associates, putting it in their Premier Division of leading destinations. Investment into the centre will continue to further strengthen its position and enhance its appeal to visitors from Basingstoke and further afield. During the past two-and-a-half years, footfall has increased by over two million, taking the annual total to 22.4 million customers.
Festival Place is managed by by CBRE. Lunson Mitchenall and Cushman & Wakefield are joint lettings agents.
