Metro Man: An Inside Out Special

25 years old and still Britain's biggest shopping centre. It is hard

to believe, but this a retail goldmine grew out of a filthy swamp

Tonight and will tell you the real story behind the Gateshead

MetroCentre. I put a big sign on the world, it

is all happening in Gateshead. It changed the face of British

shopping. The North East was involved in the

industrial revolution. 100 years later we are involved in the retail

The malls are still paved with gold, but has Sir John's dream of a house

of fun died. We are sad about it closing, and I

am sad I will never be able to bring my children here.

A correct, and inside out special. One man, one field and a gamble

that changed the way we shop. -- I started when it was basically

being built. They were doing a Santa's grotto, and I just applied

to be one of the photographers for the Santa Clause, like Santa's

little helpers. Personally I love it. It is like a second home which

is here all the time. Linda went from Santa's little

helpers to hear dressing. She then sold the Jubilee and now runs two

shops with her business partner -- business partner, Wendy.

I was 16, YTS, and it started from there. I fell pregnant at 20. I

needed to earn a living and had my daughter, she is almost 18, and she

has never known anything other than her mum working for the MetroCentre.

Shopping here, working here, everything.

It is good to say you have an shop in the biggest shopping centre in

the world. -- you have a shop. Linda and Wendy's stories are just

two from the MetroCentre, and when you look at the numbers they are

standing. 7,000 people work here, 23 million visit every year, and at

the 25 years it has been open more than 500,000 shoppers -- 500

million shoppers have been here since it opened, the equivalent of

ten times the UK population. One man has been a fraud more --

benefited more than any other from MetroCentre. Sir John Hall has been

one of the was to be Mrs -- famous faces of the North East but illness

has forced him to step back from the spotlight. He agreed to tell me

the story of the innovation that changed the face of British relate

-- retailing that catapulted him to be a multi-millionaire.

I left school and could not find a job. I got a job as a mining

surveyor for the Coal Board. They took me into service estates so I

learned about property. I joined an estate agents in some bond and set

up my own property company and became an entrepreneur. I gradually

built up a business building supermarkets and making the money,

reinvesting it, a small family business, and building it until I

had the idea for the MetroCentre. Where did that idea come from? You

do not wake up and think you're going to build one of the largest

shopping centres in Europe. Northumberland Street is one of the

best streets in the UK for shopping outside London. But walking up at

St in my youth when it was raining or snowing was not plan it --

pleasant. Saw, he saw an opportunity but

needed a big idea. -- so, he saw an opportunity.

If you're going to think big, why not learn from the best. No one

does big quite like America. My wife and I have relatives in the

States. We used to go over and see them and looking around I saw all

the American malls. I thought it was a great idea. A loved a lot of

the designs in America and I thought it would work well in the

North of England and people would We measured 54 Shopping malls in

Canada and America, measuring them, looking at the toilets.

I have great visions of you and your wife looking very suspicious.

My wife held at one end of the tape. The width of the mall was 30 metres,

that was the right width. Finally, he found what he was

looking for. His holy grail. I thought that -- I saw the

Woodbine Centre around Toronto and dived like to the concept and

finishes, so that was the sort of European centre I wanted. It he did

not know better, you could easily mistake this Canadian mall for the

MetroCentre. All the details are incredibly

similar. I do not think Sir John and his wife were measuring up -

they may as well have broken into the safe and pinched the blueprints.

For I would not say steel, that is too strong a word. I think he

learned from it. I fight he took the best of the best, the ideas

that work, like the Centre Court here. Every mall wanted a Centre

Court where they could have schools perform or whatever else that we

did feel like not just about retail. But totally modern, this will lift

goes down into a water feature, that is Gateshead.

That is absolutely Gateshead. Gateshead's is probably a little

newer than that one. If it may look a little dated now,

but when Sir John came here this was the cutting edge of retail.

There was nothing of its type back home.

I did spot the similarities when I first came to Canada from

Hartlepool. I went to the Woodbine Centre with my little boy, and it

thought -- I thought I had been here before.

The which do you prefer, the Canadian one or the MetroCentre?

I prefer the MetroCentre. This is from the Woodbine Centre.

The ceiling, the skylights, they may have changed, but it is

basically the same. There is nothing new that has been built.

Only things are reinvented, and I reinvented it from America at the

right time, right place, right time. Having got his hands on the right

formula, Sir John now needed others to buy in. There were major hurdles

in the way. What I did not realise when I would

around trying to get local authorities to let me have a

shopping centre on the edge of town, at that time lost -- most of the

local authorities were partners with the developer and the city

centres. Newcastle Corporation's had a share in the central shopping

centre. They did not want to see me as a competitor. Going around the

northern part of the country and could not get anyone to consider me.

But, salvation was at hand. Where there is doubt, may we bring

faith. Where there is despair, may we bring hope.

When Mrs Thatcher, as she was then, became Prime Minister, she greeted

Enterprise Zone Scott and nobody knew what Enterprise Zones where.

Freedom from planning, 100 % capital allowances and freedom from

rates for a period. It was a terribly waterlogged site, we

submitted our proposals to the Government. I went to see the

borders, the Central Electricity Board, and I got options from them.

They thought I was crazy. You had to see the site. When we first put

our machines on, the land was so waterlogged we lost two bigger

machines, the site into the ground. Let's see what I paid for it...

750,000. But just for �750,000. Three-quarters of a million for a

bit of dodgy, not very pleasant land.

It was worthless, really. Did you not lose sleep when you

signed that? It is no good going into something

of worrying about it afterwards. You have been made it happen. When

you are committed to it, you have the dream come and have got the

land and planning, I am now going to make it happen. You have got to

be that entrepreneur, you have to have that doggedness, get things

around the neck and worry them to death. This was the first deal and

that is the land. But everyone was as keen on Sir

John's grand plans. We were very concerned. Enterprise

Zones were to create jobs for Zones were to create jobs for

manufacturing, but at the biggest developments were out of town

shopping, and that had a significant impact over the years

on the high street. What is this not just sour grapes

over new competition? And not at all.

Nowadays there is real concern over the high street, and this was the

Undeterred, Sir John set about getting others on board and put his

plans on display at this Gateshead hotel.

I learnt to become a publicist and I put a big sign saying, it is all

happening in Gateshead. I learned quickly, if you have got something

to sell you have to tell the world. You had to put ashore on, so I put

all the drawings I had around here. There was a hubbub in the room and

I said, what is going on, don't you will?

There was one retail icon and there and if you got its blessing the

rest would follow. He the came to see me and said they were from

Marks & Spencer, and they would be interested to talk to me about

becoming part of the MetroCentre. The did you have to remain calm?

You keep your cool, you will. It is like God came in, God and Marks &

Spencer are on retailing terms. Marks & Spencer made their decision

to come out of town. They have chosen the MetroCentre

for the first one. We saw it as an opportunity to put

down our largest single floor show ever at crucial days new goods and

services. It was the first store to have a cafe. It had a different

range of merchandise and a new food its scheme. We learnt lots of

lessons. I got a call to say that the board

of Marks & Spencer would like to come and meet us. Here we are in

our house. My wife said, what will I do!? It meant she would have to

make lunch. She panicked, what will they eat? What do I have to make?

She is a very good cook. Quarter the Marks & Spencer food

hall, perhaps? He I did, actually! I said, to be

saved, you go to Marks & Spencer and buy all their food and put it

all out, and they will not be able to complain about their own food.

That is what happened! Soul, Sir John had landed the big

prize, what is known as an anchor tenant. Other big names were

clamouring to come on board, but they were choosy about who else

would be there. I was great friends with the North

Eastern Co-op, very good friends, and I promised them a hypermarket

and started designing it. When I did the sale it was said to me, in

a nice way, that they would hesitate to come in, some of the

major retailers, if I had them as a tenant. They considered them not a

strong enough covenant and the third lane.

What did you tell them if you had already promised them?

I agonised over what I had to do, but that was a business this

Russian I had to make. I went down to see them and said, I am sorry

but I am well -- but I have no choice but to withdraw the offer.

That was one of the hardest things I have had to do.

Sir John was the owner role, but he needed to pinch another big idea

from a cross the Atlantic. -- from Bizarrely, the retail revolution we

were about to witness had nothing to do with shopping at all. This

was not about shop till you drop, it was all about having fun.

Sir John's next idea came from the small at West Edmonton in Canada. A

blend of shopping and leisure. I thought that while the mother is

shopping that the father would go with the kids to the leisure park.

There were water features and rides, much bigger than we could sustain

here, but I took the idea from that -- for that from the Edmonton

-- for that from the Edmonton Centre and brought it to England.

We are not a shopping centre, we We are not a shopping centre, we

are an entertainment destiny son. We are the number one tourist

destination in Alberta, and the attractions we are offering are

great. We came here for a seven at -- on a

seven-hour drive and we came here to entertain our kids.

The kids like to go to the water park. The mum likes the shopping,

the kids like the attractions. It redefined the shopping and

entertainment industry. A lot of shopping centres now have emulated

what we have built here. West Edmonton was the first, and we

knew it worked and we knew it was successful, because the goal was to

bring more people, make them stay longer, make them travel further

and spend more money. Would it work in England? Nobody knew. All the

signs said it should and it should work in a place like Gateshead

because it had many of the similar pieces that helped Edmonton to get

Maybe some of the entertainment in West Edmonton was better left the

other side of the Atlantic. Word was now out that the MetroCentre

was to be more than just a shopping park. I got a call from someone who

ran my secretary, he wanted to speak to me about the cinema. He

said he wanted to bring her multi- screen cinema into the Metro Centre.

He wanted to expand in Britain. He wanted to come into it with the 12

screen cinema. I said be my guest. Once again, Sir John found himself

breaking new ground. With the plans in place, it was time to start

building. We had everybody working on site. I said you can't do your

scheme from the offices in Newcastle. The scheme started off

at about 10 million, went to 20 million, 100 million, ended up at

200 million. He couldn't sourced the finance for it. A major charity

were looking to increase their property investment at the time,

heard about the opportunity and saw it as a great opportunity to invest

in this sector, hence went to see Sir John to offer some financial

help. God came the second time, Marks &

Spencer the first time. Even with God on the side of the MetroCentre,

controversially in the eyes of the then Bishop of Durham who described

it as a temple to mammon, earthly opposition continued from across

the Tyne. We were concerned and tried to mitigate the damage. We

could not prevent the scheme, but did our best to stop it from

suffering. We went to the manager of the John Louis store to try to

persuade them not to move across the river, at the very least that

would have been a disaster. others, the MetroCentre was an

opportunity of work at a time when unemployment levels were the

unemployment levels were the highest in the country. I used to

walk this same walk, came through the field. Have a look across, see

what was happening, wondering what they would do there. I watched the

development grow. I was taking jobs a couple of weeks here, a couple of

weeks there. I saw a job for a cleaner, I thought it would only

last eight weeks. Colin is now head of fire safety at the MetroCentre.

I honestly thought it would be white element. Here we are, 25

years later I am still here. A bit further up the food chain, but

still here. After months of work, not to mention proving the

contractors wrong, the MetroCentre was ready to open its doors. The

big day was not without last-minute jitters. We were all in the centre

cleaning up. At 2 o'clock in the morning, I said that's it, no more.

I bought 250 bottles of champagne for the workers. They descended

like locusts! They were as happy as we were for the centre. He I

We started the Industrial Revolution, and now we start the

retail revolution in Gateshead. first day we opened, nobody came in.

I thought my goodness, what is happening? One of my staff took me

to the window in the House of Fraser, there was 13 mile traffic

jam down the motorway and nobody could get in! I have no fears about

people coming after that. Fuelled by increased car ownership, people

came from far and wide to sample Gateshead's new shopping experience.

Beautiful, it is really lovely. I am really impressed. To think it is

in the north-east! There are plenty of good shops about. We just need

plenty of money to spend now! have got this, it is magnificent.

The MetroCentre has been fundamental to a change in UK

retailing. I could point to a number of centres that have

followed on since then. We have changed the way we shop in the UK

from being purely about high-street to these destinations. It really

put the north-east on the map in terms of being a retail destination,

in particular a fashion destination. I think the MetroCentre was the

first of its type in the UK and changed retail in the UK forever.

The 1995, Bought the MetroCentre for �364 million. It is currently

valued at a billion. Successful beyond even Sir John's ambition,

but has it stayed true to his vision? The site will be home to a

new cinema, shops and leisure... Once this goes, it is finished. Now

it is going, it is really sad. are sad about Metro land closing

and I am sad I can't bring my children here. Even though a

million people visited the indoor form For each year, it closed in

2008, making way for an new cinema complex. We received 2500 responses

to the campaign, but it did not go to plant in the end. But we put up

a good fide. I think the Almighty dollars won. It is too valuable a

piece of property not to get more returned from what is there. If all

the original people were still involved, it would have been saved

because it meant a lot a lot of people. It meant a lot of the

people who developed it and so the people of Gateshead. We kept it,

but as the cost against the centre because I felt it was necessary.

You can have too many shops, and I felt the leisure park was great.

Here in West Edmonton, the leisure attractions are still thriving, so

how is it they have kept faith with the original concept - shopping and

fun? We continue to make sure everything is fresh and new. Every

year, we are always adding either end you ride, or a new component.

This year we have introduced ropes quest. Last year, you would have

been experiencing something new to this year. So you will never

abandon the leisure side of things here? Absolutely not. It is what

defines us. It makes us unique. People's needs change, and we felt

we needed to go along with those desires, and we think we

transformed the leisure part of MetroCentre dramatically at that

time, bringing the cinema to the centre. I think we went through

some pain and some people will be still mourning the loss of the old

Metro land, but we think we got it right. When I sold the centre, I

reserved the right to park at any time I wanted to to park in the

staff car-park. Generally I just press the button when I get in.

Let's try it out today. Morning, it is Sir John. Your name still counts

for something around here! Now I have just got to find a parking

spot. So what does Sir John think of his baby now it is all grown up?

You changed it in here because we had a recess in here. We changed it

because people would not crossover because they have to go down.

was meant to be a resting place. But that's fine.

My wife goes quite regularly. It might have new owners but it will

always be my shopping centre. I have mixed feelings. It makes it a

bit brighter. More contemporary. You have got to change with the

Times, you can't stand still. Seeing it as it is today, still

well managed, still popular as ever, I feel very proud of what we have

achieved. Basically I was the concept man, but as a team effort

everywhere has its ups and downs. Have cost 25 years down the line, I

am still happy to be here. If you speak to anybody, anywhere in the

country, you say you are from Newcastle aren't they always know

about the MetroCentre. I have grown up here, it has been my life. It

has been a good living for me. I would not like to work anywhere

else. I am confident there is at least another 25 years in

MetroCentre, at least another 50 years and then some. Please never

take away the seats. As you get older, the ageing population and

disabled people, you have got to sit down somewhere. Those centres

with no seats, they are wrong. You have got to make it comfortable.

You will never take it away from me. You can see we don't want to.

Absolutely. It has just grown up. In all honesty, haven't you made a

massive mistake? Shouldn't you have kept it? I have often thought about

that over the years. I made my decision to sell-out. It is worth a

billion today. At the time it was quite unknown. It got to the size

it is, and my company was in many ways too small to handle it. We

would still have needed a massive injection of capital. But I made

that decision at the time to move on and I have no regrets. You can't

have any regrets. You have got to say to yourself you make that

decision and you love with it. I am quite happy with what I did, but

there is always that feeling - a billion-pound investment - wow!

decision has paid off. A roof over our heads as we spend is now taken

for granted. The MetroCentre also put the north-east on the map,

providing a retail blueprint that others followed. This place will be

here for the next 20 years, I am certain of that, and long after I

have gone. I have had my time. I will carry that sense of pride with

me, aren't I will just basically say well done to the people of the

north-east and thanks for supporting it all these years.

Still the biggest in Europe I think. Well done to this man. There is a

lot more to come, even more. I was sceptical at first when they first

opened it 25 years ago but it has taken off tremendously. Free

parking, people undercover, they can spend all day there instead of

eating at home. I think it is great, spot-on, a good place to shop.