Metrocentre races into 2025 building on record 2024

The Metrocentre Partnership is celebrating a fast start to 2025, following a record-breaking 2024 for both sales and footfall. Proactive asset management, with nearly 300,000 sq ft of deals completed in the last 12 months, has helped to drive a 9.2% year-on-year footfall uplift year to date.

The January visitation growth comes as Metrocentre announces 2024 figures, having welcomed 15.8 million visitors, a 10% increase on 2023. Sales performance also surpassed the previous year by 5.3%, with F&B, Sports Fashion, and Health & Beauty experiencing the biggest uplift; beauty alone saw an increase of 8.2%. The year was capped off by a rise in festive footfall, going against national trends. 2 million visitors came to Metrocentre in December alone, up 2.9% vs December 2023, and the final week’s footfall outperformed year-on-year by a huge 30%.

The destination introduced 21 new brands to the centre last year, including Sephora, Mango, and Reiss, alongside regional debuts for Sosandar and GO Outdoors. Retailers River Island, Primark, Victoria’s Secret, and Clarks also demonstrated their commitment to the dominant North East centre, as four of the 17 existing tenants that upsized or refurbished stores to keep the visitor experience fresh and unique. F&B and leisure also evolved, with the likes of TomahawkSteakhouse, German Doner Kebab, TheEscapologist, and YoYo Noodle now calling Metrocentre home.

Community is also a key theme that has been reflected throughout the year. A brand-new NHS Community Diagnostic Centre launched at Metrocentre, as well as a planned £6 million redevelopment being announced for the Green Mall entrance, set to enhance the public realm, revitalise a key gateway into the centre, and create over 18,000 sq ft of anchor, evening F&B space.

Ben Cox, Director at Sovereign Centros from CBRE, Asset Managers of Metrocentre, commented: “We are delighted to have driven some really positive trading results over the festive period following yet another busy year at Metrocentre, the benefits of what was accomplished already carrying into 2025. We’ve introduced several top brands to the centre, ones we knew would build excitement amongst our visitors. We’ve been able to facilitate growth in more ways than one, whether that’s renewed leases, refurbished units, or continual investment in the centre itself. Our performance shows that visitors want to come here; they have access to best-in-class retail, F&B, and leisure, and this is on track to continue as we kickstart 2025 with a healthy pipeline of new leasing activity.”

Growth in 2024 has been instrumental in strengthening the destination’s appeal to visitors and solidifying its role as a dominant destination in the North East.