Member Article

A national company with a local feel: bdaily speaks to Phil Steele, general manager of Eldon Square

“At Eldon Square, we feel it’s important we play a role in ensuring the success of the city,” says Phil Steele, general manager at Eldon Square.

While Eldon Square Shopping Centre many not be the most aesthetically pleasing building in Newcastle, it certainly does cater to a vast clientele,and is undoubtedly one of the reasons the city centre has remained so busy despite the recession.

“As a regional shopping centre we are at an advantage,” says Phil. “There is a gravitation towards bigger centres and we have excellent transport links. The £170 million investment in St Andrews Way has also helped us attract big names like Next and Kurt Geiger, which are undoubtedly big pulls for shoppers.”

While Eldon Square’s parent company Capital Shopping Centres operates nationwide, one of the priorities for Phil and the management team is to ensure it retains a local feel.

“It’s always a challenge to get involved in the wider community to understand how it works, and we work closely with NE1 to understand the activities they do,” says Phil.

“We must play a leading role in ensuring Newcastle is successful, which is why we decided to get involved in initiatives like The Big Sing at the Sage and Retail Gold.”

As well as engaging with the community at large, the team at Eldon Square are also committed to respecting the environment around them.

“We’ve taken measures within the centre to reduce energy consumption and to promote the increased recycling of waste.

“We’ve also been named as a top 100 company by Business in the Community in their corporate responsibility index, something which we are immensely proud of.”

While Eldon Square is witnessing high levels of growth, many high streets across the country are suffering, with new statistics showing that increasing numbers of shops are standing empty. Phil is now calling for those businesses suffering to receive more help.

“We have a concern that lots of retailers are struggling, and for them there’s not much light at the end the tunnel,” he said. “More investment is needed to regional towns, and the government should provide more support for those failing to attract shoppers.”

In light of these problems, Phil and the team at Eldon Square recognise the importance of delivering to the consumer: “ We are now looking to develop our offering within Eldon square to increase pedestrian flow, and invest in the fabric of the older parts of the building to bring them up to the same standards as the new part.

“We’ve got some great people and some great retailers here, so now we’re all looking to move forward in the same direction.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .