:00:16. > :00:21.25 years old and still Britain's biggest shopping centre. It is hard
:00:21. > :00:31.to believe, but this a retail goldmine grew out of a filthy swamp
:00:31. > :00:41.
:00:41. > :00:44.Tonight and will tell you the real story behind the Gateshead
:00:44. > :00:48.MetroCentre. I put a big sign on the world, it
:00:48. > :00:52.is all happening in Gateshead. It changed the face of British
:00:52. > :00:55.shopping. The North East was involved in the
:00:56. > :01:05.industrial revolution. 100 years later we are involved in the retail
:01:06. > :01:07.
:01:07. > :01:11.The malls are still paved with gold, but has Sir John's dream of a house
:01:11. > :01:14.of fun died. We are sad about it closing, and I
:01:14. > :01:19.am sad I will never be able to bring my children here.
:01:19. > :01:29.A correct, and inside out special. One man, one field and a gamble
:01:29. > :01:51.
:01:51. > :01:56.that changed the way we shop. -- I started when it was basically
:01:56. > :02:00.being built. They were doing a Santa's grotto, and I just applied
:02:00. > :02:07.to be one of the photographers for the Santa Clause, like Santa's
:02:07. > :02:11.little helpers. Personally I love it. It is like a second home which
:02:11. > :02:15.is here all the time. Linda went from Santa's little
:02:15. > :02:20.helpers to hear dressing. She then sold the Jubilee and now runs two
:02:20. > :02:25.shops with her business partner -- business partner, Wendy.
:02:25. > :02:29.I was 16, YTS, and it started from there. I fell pregnant at 20. I
:02:29. > :02:36.needed to earn a living and had my daughter, she is almost 18, and she
:02:36. > :02:39.has never known anything other than her mum working for the MetroCentre.
:02:39. > :02:43.Shopping here, working here, everything.
:02:44. > :02:53.It is good to say you have an shop in the biggest shopping centre in
:02:53. > :02:57.the world. -- you have a shop. Linda and Wendy's stories are just
:02:57. > :03:02.two from the MetroCentre, and when you look at the numbers they are
:03:02. > :03:08.standing. 7,000 people work here, 23 million visit every year, and at
:03:08. > :03:12.the 25 years it has been open more than 500,000 shoppers -- 500
:03:12. > :03:18.million shoppers have been here since it opened, the equivalent of
:03:18. > :03:28.ten times the UK population. One man has been a fraud more --
:03:28. > :03:33.benefited more than any other from MetroCentre. Sir John Hall has been
:03:33. > :03:37.one of the was to be Mrs -- famous faces of the North East but illness
:03:37. > :03:43.has forced him to step back from the spotlight. He agreed to tell me
:03:43. > :03:47.the story of the innovation that changed the face of British relate
:03:47. > :03:52.-- retailing that catapulted him to be a multi-millionaire.
:03:52. > :03:57.I left school and could not find a job. I got a job as a mining
:03:57. > :04:01.surveyor for the Coal Board. They took me into service estates so I
:04:01. > :04:05.learned about property. I joined an estate agents in some bond and set
:04:05. > :04:09.up my own property company and became an entrepreneur. I gradually
:04:09. > :04:12.built up a business building supermarkets and making the money,
:04:13. > :04:18.reinvesting it, a small family business, and building it until I
:04:18. > :04:21.had the idea for the MetroCentre. Where did that idea come from? You
:04:21. > :04:26.do not wake up and think you're going to build one of the largest
:04:26. > :04:31.shopping centres in Europe. Northumberland Street is one of the
:04:31. > :04:36.best streets in the UK for shopping outside London. But walking up at
:04:36. > :04:39.St in my youth when it was raining or snowing was not plan it --
:04:40. > :04:44.pleasant. Saw, he saw an opportunity but
:04:44. > :04:49.needed a big idea. -- so, he saw an opportunity.
:04:49. > :04:56.If you're going to think big, why not learn from the best. No one
:04:56. > :05:00.does big quite like America. My wife and I have relatives in the
:05:00. > :05:05.States. We used to go over and see them and looking around I saw all
:05:05. > :05:08.the American malls. I thought it was a great idea. A loved a lot of
:05:08. > :05:18.the designs in America and I thought it would work well in the
:05:18. > :05:23.
:05:23. > :05:28.North of England and people would We measured 54 Shopping malls in
:05:28. > :05:33.Canada and America, measuring them, looking at the toilets.
:05:33. > :05:39.I have great visions of you and your wife looking very suspicious.
:05:39. > :05:45.My wife held at one end of the tape. The width of the mall was 30 metres,
:05:45. > :05:50.that was the right width. Finally, he found what he was
:05:50. > :05:53.looking for. His holy grail. I thought that -- I saw the
:05:53. > :05:58.Woodbine Centre around Toronto and dived like to the concept and
:05:58. > :06:03.finishes, so that was the sort of European centre I wanted. It he did
:06:04. > :06:05.not know better, you could easily mistake this Canadian mall for the
:06:05. > :06:10.MetroCentre. All the details are incredibly
:06:10. > :06:15.similar. I do not think Sir John and his wife were measuring up -
:06:15. > :06:18.they may as well have broken into the safe and pinched the blueprints.
:06:19. > :06:24.For I would not say steel, that is too strong a word. I think he
:06:24. > :06:29.learned from it. I fight he took the best of the best, the ideas
:06:29. > :06:32.that work, like the Centre Court here. Every mall wanted a Centre
:06:33. > :06:39.Court where they could have schools perform or whatever else that we
:06:39. > :06:43.did feel like not just about retail. But totally modern, this will lift
:06:43. > :06:48.goes down into a water feature, that is Gateshead.
:06:48. > :06:51.That is absolutely Gateshead. Gateshead's is probably a little
:06:51. > :06:54.newer than that one. If it may look a little dated now,
:06:54. > :06:58.but when Sir John came here this was the cutting edge of retail.
:06:58. > :07:02.There was nothing of its type back home.
:07:02. > :07:06.I did spot the similarities when I first came to Canada from
:07:06. > :07:13.Hartlepool. I went to the Woodbine Centre with my little boy, and it
:07:13. > :07:18.thought -- I thought I had been here before.
:07:18. > :07:25.The which do you prefer, the Canadian one or the MetroCentre?
:07:25. > :07:29.I prefer the MetroCentre. This is from the Woodbine Centre.
:07:29. > :07:34.The ceiling, the skylights, they may have changed, but it is
:07:34. > :07:38.basically the same. There is nothing new that has been built.
:07:38. > :07:43.Only things are reinvented, and I reinvented it from America at the
:07:43. > :07:47.right time, right place, right time. Having got his hands on the right
:07:47. > :07:52.formula, Sir John now needed others to buy in. There were major hurdles
:07:52. > :07:54.in the way. What I did not realise when I would
:07:54. > :07:59.around trying to get local authorities to let me have a
:07:59. > :08:03.shopping centre on the edge of town, at that time lost -- most of the
:08:03. > :08:08.local authorities were partners with the developer and the city
:08:08. > :08:13.centres. Newcastle Corporation's had a share in the central shopping
:08:13. > :08:16.centre. They did not want to see me as a competitor. Going around the
:08:16. > :08:22.northern part of the country and could not get anyone to consider me.
:08:22. > :08:26.But, salvation was at hand. Where there is doubt, may we bring
:08:26. > :08:31.faith. Where there is despair, may we bring hope.
:08:31. > :08:36.When Mrs Thatcher, as she was then, became Prime Minister, she greeted
:08:36. > :08:41.Enterprise Zone Scott and nobody knew what Enterprise Zones where.
:08:41. > :08:48.Freedom from planning, 100 % capital allowances and freedom from
:08:48. > :08:51.rates for a period. It was a terribly waterlogged site, we
:08:51. > :08:55.submitted our proposals to the Government. I went to see the
:08:55. > :09:01.borders, the Central Electricity Board, and I got options from them.
:09:01. > :09:05.They thought I was crazy. You had to see the site. When we first put
:09:05. > :09:10.our machines on, the land was so waterlogged we lost two bigger
:09:10. > :09:17.machines, the site into the ground. Let's see what I paid for it...
:09:17. > :09:20.750,000. But just for �750,000. Three-quarters of a million for a
:09:20. > :09:24.bit of dodgy, not very pleasant land.
:09:24. > :09:28.It was worthless, really. Did you not lose sleep when you
:09:28. > :09:33.signed that? It is no good going into something
:09:33. > :09:36.of worrying about it afterwards. You have been made it happen. When
:09:36. > :09:41.you are committed to it, you have the dream come and have got the
:09:41. > :09:45.land and planning, I am now going to make it happen. You have got to
:09:45. > :09:50.be that entrepreneur, you have to have that doggedness, get things
:09:50. > :09:55.around the neck and worry them to death. This was the first deal and
:09:55. > :09:59.that is the land. But everyone was as keen on Sir
:09:59. > :10:02.John's grand plans. We were very concerned. Enterprise
:10:02. > :10:04.Zones were to create jobs for Zones were to create jobs for
:10:04. > :10:06.manufacturing, but at the biggest developments were out of town
:10:06. > :10:12.shopping, and that had a significant impact over the years
:10:12. > :10:15.on the high street. What is this not just sour grapes
:10:15. > :10:18.over new competition? And not at all.
:10:18. > :10:28.Nowadays there is real concern over the high street, and this was the
:10:28. > :10:31.Undeterred, Sir John set about getting others on board and put his
:10:31. > :10:38.plans on display at this Gateshead hotel.
:10:38. > :10:41.I learnt to become a publicist and I put a big sign saying, it is all
:10:41. > :10:46.happening in Gateshead. I learned quickly, if you have got something
:10:46. > :10:51.to sell you have to tell the world. You had to put ashore on, so I put
:10:51. > :10:57.all the drawings I had around here. There was a hubbub in the room and
:10:57. > :11:02.I said, what is going on, don't you will?
:11:02. > :11:05.There was one retail icon and there and if you got its blessing the
:11:05. > :11:11.rest would follow. He the came to see me and said they were from
:11:11. > :11:16.Marks & Spencer, and they would be interested to talk to me about
:11:16. > :11:22.becoming part of the MetroCentre. The did you have to remain calm?
:11:22. > :11:30.You keep your cool, you will. It is like God came in, God and Marks &
:11:30. > :11:33.Spencer are on retailing terms. Marks & Spencer made their decision
:11:33. > :11:39.to come out of town. They have chosen the MetroCentre
:11:39. > :11:42.for the first one. We saw it as an opportunity to put
:11:42. > :11:47.down our largest single floor show ever at crucial days new goods and
:11:47. > :11:50.services. It was the first store to have a cafe. It had a different
:11:50. > :11:54.range of merchandise and a new food its scheme. We learnt lots of
:11:54. > :11:58.lessons. I got a call to say that the board
:11:58. > :12:03.of Marks & Spencer would like to come and meet us. Here we are in
:12:03. > :12:09.our house. My wife said, what will I do!? It meant she would have to
:12:09. > :12:13.make lunch. She panicked, what will they eat? What do I have to make?
:12:13. > :12:17.She is a very good cook. Quarter the Marks & Spencer food
:12:17. > :12:21.hall, perhaps? He I did, actually! I said, to be
:12:21. > :12:25.saved, you go to Marks & Spencer and buy all their food and put it
:12:25. > :12:31.all out, and they will not be able to complain about their own food.
:12:31. > :12:35.That is what happened! Soul, Sir John had landed the big
:12:35. > :12:38.prize, what is known as an anchor tenant. Other big names were
:12:38. > :12:44.clamouring to come on board, but they were choosy about who else
:12:44. > :12:47.would be there. I was great friends with the North
:12:47. > :12:53.Eastern Co-op, very good friends, and I promised them a hypermarket
:12:53. > :13:00.and started designing it. When I did the sale it was said to me, in
:13:00. > :13:05.a nice way, that they would hesitate to come in, some of the
:13:05. > :13:08.major retailers, if I had them as a tenant. They considered them not a
:13:08. > :13:11.strong enough covenant and the third lane.
:13:11. > :13:15.What did you tell them if you had already promised them?
:13:15. > :13:19.I agonised over what I had to do, but that was a business this
:13:19. > :13:25.Russian I had to make. I went down to see them and said, I am sorry
:13:25. > :13:28.but I am well -- but I have no choice but to withdraw the offer.
:13:28. > :13:33.That was one of the hardest things I have had to do.
:13:33. > :13:43.Sir John was the owner role, but he needed to pinch another big idea
:13:43. > :13:45.
:13:45. > :13:52.from a cross the Atlantic. -- from Bizarrely, the retail revolution we
:13:52. > :13:57.were about to witness had nothing to do with shopping at all. This
:13:57. > :14:04.was not about shop till you drop, it was all about having fun.
:14:04. > :14:11.Sir John's next idea came from the small at West Edmonton in Canada. A
:14:11. > :14:14.blend of shopping and leisure. I thought that while the mother is
:14:14. > :14:18.shopping that the father would go with the kids to the leisure park.
:14:18. > :14:24.There were water features and rides, much bigger than we could sustain
:14:24. > :14:26.here, but I took the idea from that -- for that from the Edmonton
:14:26. > :14:29.-- for that from the Edmonton Centre and brought it to England.
:14:29. > :14:32.We are not a shopping centre, we We are not a shopping centre, we
:14:32. > :14:35.are an entertainment destiny son. We are the number one tourist
:14:35. > :14:41.destination in Alberta, and the attractions we are offering are
:14:41. > :14:46.great. We came here for a seven at -- on a
:14:46. > :14:50.seven-hour drive and we came here to entertain our kids.
:14:50. > :14:55.The kids like to go to the water park. The mum likes the shopping,
:14:56. > :14:59.the kids like the attractions. It redefined the shopping and
:14:59. > :15:04.entertainment industry. A lot of shopping centres now have emulated
:15:04. > :15:09.what we have built here. West Edmonton was the first, and we
:15:09. > :15:14.knew it worked and we knew it was successful, because the goal was to
:15:14. > :15:19.bring more people, make them stay longer, make them travel further
:15:19. > :15:23.and spend more money. Would it work in England? Nobody knew. All the
:15:23. > :15:29.signs said it should and it should work in a place like Gateshead
:15:29. > :15:39.because it had many of the similar pieces that helped Edmonton to get
:15:39. > :15:55.
:15:55. > :16:01.Maybe some of the entertainment in West Edmonton was better left the
:16:01. > :16:08.other side of the Atlantic. Word was now out that the MetroCentre
:16:08. > :16:13.was to be more than just a shopping park. I got a call from someone who
:16:13. > :16:20.ran my secretary, he wanted to speak to me about the cinema. He
:16:20. > :16:28.said he wanted to bring her multi- screen cinema into the Metro Centre.
:16:28. > :16:37.He wanted to expand in Britain. He wanted to come into it with the 12
:16:37. > :16:42.screen cinema. I said be my guest. Once again, Sir John found himself
:16:42. > :16:50.breaking new ground. With the plans in place, it was time to start
:16:50. > :16:54.building. We had everybody working on site. I said you can't do your
:16:54. > :17:00.scheme from the offices in Newcastle. The scheme started off
:17:00. > :17:08.at about 10 million, went to 20 million, 100 million, ended up at
:17:08. > :17:11.200 million. He couldn't sourced the finance for it. A major charity
:17:12. > :17:16.were looking to increase their property investment at the time,
:17:16. > :17:20.heard about the opportunity and saw it as a great opportunity to invest
:17:21. > :17:28.in this sector, hence went to see Sir John to offer some financial
:17:28. > :17:35.help. God came the second time, Marks &
:17:35. > :17:39.Spencer the first time. Even with God on the side of the MetroCentre,
:17:39. > :17:43.controversially in the eyes of the then Bishop of Durham who described
:17:43. > :17:49.it as a temple to mammon, earthly opposition continued from across
:17:49. > :17:59.the Tyne. We were concerned and tried to mitigate the damage. We
:17:59. > :17:59.
:17:59. > :18:04.could not prevent the scheme, but did our best to stop it from
:18:04. > :18:11.suffering. We went to the manager of the John Louis store to try to
:18:11. > :18:17.persuade them not to move across the river, at the very least that
:18:17. > :18:20.would have been a disaster. others, the MetroCentre was an
:18:20. > :18:23.opportunity of work at a time when unemployment levels were the
:18:23. > :18:28.unemployment levels were the highest in the country. I used to
:18:28. > :18:33.walk this same walk, came through the field. Have a look across, see
:18:33. > :18:39.what was happening, wondering what they would do there. I watched the
:18:39. > :18:43.development grow. I was taking jobs a couple of weeks here, a couple of
:18:43. > :18:49.weeks there. I saw a job for a cleaner, I thought it would only
:18:49. > :18:56.last eight weeks. Colin is now head of fire safety at the MetroCentre.
:18:56. > :19:01.I honestly thought it would be white element. Here we are, 25
:19:01. > :19:07.years later I am still here. A bit further up the food chain, but
:19:07. > :19:11.still here. After months of work, not to mention proving the
:19:11. > :19:17.contractors wrong, the MetroCentre was ready to open its doors. The
:19:17. > :19:25.big day was not without last-minute jitters. We were all in the centre
:19:25. > :19:30.cleaning up. At 2 o'clock in the morning, I said that's it, no more.
:19:30. > :19:37.I bought 250 bottles of champagne for the workers. They descended
:19:37. > :19:47.like locusts! They were as happy as we were for the centre. He I
:19:47. > :19:49.
:19:49. > :19:54.We started the Industrial Revolution, and now we start the
:19:54. > :20:00.retail revolution in Gateshead. first day we opened, nobody came in.
:20:00. > :20:05.I thought my goodness, what is happening? One of my staff took me
:20:06. > :20:12.to the window in the House of Fraser, there was 13 mile traffic
:20:12. > :20:18.jam down the motorway and nobody could get in! I have no fears about
:20:18. > :20:28.people coming after that. Fuelled by increased car ownership, people
:20:28. > :20:29.
:20:29. > :20:35.came from far and wide to sample Gateshead's new shopping experience.
:20:35. > :20:40.Beautiful, it is really lovely. I am really impressed. To think it is
:20:40. > :20:48.in the north-east! There are plenty of good shops about. We just need
:20:48. > :20:51.plenty of money to spend now! have got this, it is magnificent.
:20:51. > :20:56.The MetroCentre has been fundamental to a change in UK
:20:56. > :21:02.retailing. I could point to a number of centres that have
:21:02. > :21:07.followed on since then. We have changed the way we shop in the UK
:21:07. > :21:11.from being purely about high-street to these destinations. It really
:21:11. > :21:17.put the north-east on the map in terms of being a retail destination,
:21:17. > :21:22.in particular a fashion destination. I think the MetroCentre was the
:21:22. > :21:32.first of its type in the UK and changed retail in the UK forever.
:21:32. > :21:34.
:21:34. > :21:39.The 1995, Bought the MetroCentre for �364 million. It is currently
:21:39. > :21:49.valued at a billion. Successful beyond even Sir John's ambition,
:21:49. > :21:50.
:21:50. > :21:59.but has it stayed true to his vision? The site will be home to a
:21:59. > :22:05.new cinema, shops and leisure... Once this goes, it is finished. Now
:22:05. > :22:10.it is going, it is really sad. are sad about Metro land closing
:22:10. > :22:15.and I am sad I can't bring my children here. Even though a
:22:15. > :22:24.million people visited the indoor form For each year, it closed in
:22:24. > :22:29.2008, making way for an new cinema complex. We received 2500 responses
:22:29. > :22:38.to the campaign, but it did not go to plant in the end. But we put up
:22:38. > :22:44.a good fide. I think the Almighty dollars won. It is too valuable a
:22:44. > :22:48.piece of property not to get more returned from what is there. If all
:22:48. > :22:52.the original people were still involved, it would have been saved
:22:52. > :22:58.because it meant a lot a lot of people. It meant a lot of the
:22:59. > :23:04.people who developed it and so the people of Gateshead. We kept it,
:23:04. > :23:10.but as the cost against the centre because I felt it was necessary.
:23:10. > :23:14.You can have too many shops, and I felt the leisure park was great.
:23:14. > :23:19.Here in West Edmonton, the leisure attractions are still thriving, so
:23:19. > :23:26.how is it they have kept faith with the original concept - shopping and
:23:26. > :23:33.fun? We continue to make sure everything is fresh and new. Every
:23:33. > :23:39.year, we are always adding either end you ride, or a new component.
:23:39. > :23:43.This year we have introduced ropes quest. Last year, you would have
:23:43. > :23:48.been experiencing something new to this year. So you will never
:23:48. > :23:57.abandon the leisure side of things here? Absolutely not. It is what
:23:57. > :24:01.defines us. It makes us unique. People's needs change, and we felt
:24:01. > :24:05.we needed to go along with those desires, and we think we
:24:05. > :24:10.transformed the leisure part of MetroCentre dramatically at that
:24:10. > :24:17.time, bringing the cinema to the centre. I think we went through
:24:17. > :24:27.some pain and some people will be still mourning the loss of the old
:24:27. > :24:28.
:24:28. > :24:33.Metro land, but we think we got it right. When I sold the centre, I
:24:33. > :24:38.reserved the right to park at any time I wanted to to park in the
:24:38. > :24:48.staff car-park. Generally I just press the button when I get in.
:24:48. > :24:54.
:24:54. > :24:59.Let's try it out today. Morning, it is Sir John. Your name still counts
:24:59. > :25:09.for something around here! Now I have just got to find a parking
:25:09. > :25:10.
:25:10. > :25:15.spot. So what does Sir John think of his baby now it is all grown up?
:25:15. > :25:19.You changed it in here because we had a recess in here. We changed it
:25:19. > :25:25.because people would not crossover because they have to go down.
:25:25. > :25:30.was meant to be a resting place. But that's fine.
:25:30. > :25:37.My wife goes quite regularly. It might have new owners but it will
:25:37. > :25:41.always be my shopping centre. I have mixed feelings. It makes it a
:25:41. > :25:46.bit brighter. More contemporary. You have got to change with the
:25:46. > :25:51.Times, you can't stand still. Seeing it as it is today, still
:25:51. > :25:58.well managed, still popular as ever, I feel very proud of what we have
:25:58. > :26:03.achieved. Basically I was the concept man, but as a team effort
:26:03. > :26:09.everywhere has its ups and downs. Have cost 25 years down the line, I
:26:09. > :26:14.am still happy to be here. If you speak to anybody, anywhere in the
:26:14. > :26:18.country, you say you are from Newcastle aren't they always know
:26:18. > :26:22.about the MetroCentre. I have grown up here, it has been my life. It
:26:22. > :26:28.has been a good living for me. I would not like to work anywhere
:26:28. > :26:34.else. I am confident there is at least another 25 years in
:26:34. > :26:40.MetroCentre, at least another 50 years and then some. Please never
:26:40. > :26:45.take away the seats. As you get older, the ageing population and
:26:45. > :26:49.disabled people, you have got to sit down somewhere. Those centres
:26:50. > :26:55.with no seats, they are wrong. You have got to make it comfortable.
:26:55. > :27:03.You will never take it away from me. You can see we don't want to.
:27:03. > :27:09.Absolutely. It has just grown up. In all honesty, haven't you made a
:27:09. > :27:15.massive mistake? Shouldn't you have kept it? I have often thought about
:27:15. > :27:23.that over the years. I made my decision to sell-out. It is worth a
:27:24. > :27:29.billion today. At the time it was quite unknown. It got to the size
:27:29. > :27:33.it is, and my company was in many ways too small to handle it. We
:27:34. > :27:39.would still have needed a massive injection of capital. But I made
:27:39. > :27:43.that decision at the time to move on and I have no regrets. You can't
:27:43. > :27:48.have any regrets. You have got to say to yourself you make that
:27:48. > :27:58.decision and you love with it. I am quite happy with what I did, but
:27:58. > :28:04.there is always that feeling - a billion-pound investment - wow!
:28:04. > :28:09.decision has paid off. A roof over our heads as we spend is now taken
:28:09. > :28:15.for granted. The MetroCentre also put the north-east on the map,
:28:15. > :28:20.providing a retail blueprint that others followed. This place will be
:28:20. > :28:27.here for the next 20 years, I am certain of that, and long after I
:28:27. > :28:33.have gone. I have had my time. I will carry that sense of pride with
:28:33. > :28:37.me, aren't I will just basically say well done to the people of the
:28:37. > :28:44.north-east and thanks for supporting it all these years.
:28:44. > :28:49.Still the biggest in Europe I think. Well done to this man. There is a
:28:49. > :28:54.lot more to come, even more. I was sceptical at first when they first
:28:54. > :28:58.opened it 25 years ago but it has taken off tremendously. Free
:28:58. > :29:05.parking, people undercover, they can spend all day there instead of
:29:05. > :29:14.eating at home. I think it is great, spot-on, a good place to shop.