Member Article

New Manager At St Johns Shopping Centre

A new centre manager has taken the helm at Liverpool’s St Johns Shopping Centre.

Neil Ashcroft has joined the team as Centre Manager after his departure from the same role at New Mersey Shopping Park.

Neil, 32, said he was ‘over the moon’ at achieving the position.

He added: “St Johns is an iconic centre in a city that gets better and better. It took several months to secure the position; which makes it even more rewarding.”

After reading History and Psychology at the prestigious University of Durham, Neil went onto work for another iconic Liverpool brand - TJ Hughes then moving on to higher positions in Debenhams and New Look before a move into Centre Management at ‘Speke Retail’ as it is better known.

“As part of my role (at New Mersey Retail Park) l also looked after various other shopping parks in the North West but as Speke is one of the biggest in the UK this was always my key focus. My role really covered all aspects of park management. Through my team I would ensure the park was clean, secure and customer centric. I would also focus on building retailer relationships, developing community links and ensuring the park was an asset to the area,” added Neil.

In his new role leading a well-established management team at St Johns Shopping Centre, he will oversee the delivery of facilities management, retailer liaison, operations, marketing, lettings, amongst building a host of other key city stakeholder partnerships and relationships.

Neil added: “I try and split my time evenly between all areas of the centre; I really enjoy visiting the stores and getting their feedback. A big part of my role is also engaging with the wider city. St Johns is a big part of Liverpool and it is important that we have a voice central to the region.”

With a tenant mix of larger national retailers such as Aldi, Wilko’s and Matalan, St Johns Shopping Centre is also famous for it’s burgeoning independent retailers such as Koko and Storm, as well as a thriving food court.

Neil added: “St Johns has a credible and relevant retail offering for the local population. Exploring the centre you will always find a store that has what you are looking for.

“There has been an awful lot of investment - £10million just last year to be exact - and inside is much more inviting, slick and modern; it really holds its own in the amazing mix of centre’s in the city. St Johns Shopping Centre has a positive future.”

Neil has hopes to create a destination that really reflects the needs of shoppers in Liverpool - a place that meets those needs whilst offering industry leading customer service.

He added: “We have lots of independent retailers which gives us a uniqueness; service delivery is really important to them as it is to our core customer care team. Over the coming months our cleaning and security staff will be undergoing lots of training to ensure we can offer the same levels of service to every type of shopper in St Johns. I want the centre to represent the city and embrace the community it supports.”

With the BID hosting the first Halloween lantern workshops this weekend (Saturday, October 28th at the Old Poundland Unit on the Upper Mall) and the Santa Dash using the centre as their main distribution point, Neil’s ambition to create even better relations in the city has already started.

He added: “Liverpool is an amazing city that has had a reputational and physical transformation. I want St Johns to share in this and be part of the continuation of Liverpool’s success story by working in partnership with the full city region.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Laura Garner .