TFT M&E Associate completes charity fundraiser Tour de Cornwall with ex-footballers
Top left – Mark at Land’s End on Day 1 of the ‘Tour’
Mark Fenwick, one of TFT’s keen cyclists, has just completed the Tour de Cornwall: 190 miles and 16,000 ft of climbing over three days across Cornwall to raise money for umbrella charity 11 Foundation. The charity ‘curate unique collaborations to provide support and funding to established charities to help enable health related initiatives, community led environment schemes and the provision of opportunities for disadvantaged and vulnerable people’ (www.11foundation.co.uk).
Former Chelsea and England footballer Joe Cole, who set up 11 Foundation with his wife Carly, joined the group of property professionals for the ride along with former teammates Wayne Bridge and Steve Sidwell. To keep in line with COVID-19 measures, riders had their temperatures checked before they set off each day and anyone with symptoms was pulled out of the event.
Upon completion, Mark said:
It was always going to be a challenge, however the certainly training paid off! We had fantastic weather for three days and with every climb our thoughts inevitably turned to the amazing cause we were raising money for. The rides were gruelling – even for the seasoned rider – but the entire group proudly completed the tour.
Donations from friends, family, TFT colleagues and industry peers have sponsored Mark over £2k, beating his £1750 target to help the team raise close to £50k for the charity.
This ride couldn’t have been possible without everyone’s incredibly generous donations and the support of my sponsors. We have just reached the £50,000 mark which is an amazing achievement by all.
A massive thank you to all of my colleagues at TFT for sponsoring me for this challenge!
If you’d like to show support and donate to the cause, please click here.
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Newcastle’s The Gate: creating the future of leisure and retail
We
know all too well that the retail sector is undergoing a period of
transformation, but whether that means decline or rebirth seems to depend
increasingly on the vision of a brand or store in question. Yes, shopping
habits are changing, rendering many tricks of retail past irrelevant and
unproductive, but we’re seeing new innovators and fast-moving incumbents take
steps to get ahead of the curve. Familiar shopping centre and leisure brands
are highly exposed to these challenges but, equally, by leveraging their large
estates in the right way they can create a major advantage in a changing
landscape.
The Gate is a retail and leisure complex situated in central Newcastle, which originally opened in 2002. It now plays host to 19 venues including nine food and drink outlets and five unique leisure activities including increasingly popular activity: escape rooms. With 18.65m tourists visiting Newcastle & Gateshead in 2018, a 3.5% increase from 2017[1], the Gate has had to rethink its offering to remain a popular destination for a broad range of visitors.
TFT has been lucky enough to be part of the
transformation of The Gate, Newcastle, since it has been in the hands of
investors The Crown Estate. As lead building consultant, we’re supporting its reinvigoration
as a modern leisure destination by incorporating new and unique features to
position it as a one-of-a-kind destination.
Jake Honor, project lead and Associate at TFT said:
“Since our involvement commenced on site in
2013, we have seen a shift in the retail and leisure market to becoming a much
more challenging environment for landlords and tenants alike. We have also seen
individual tenants more and more determined to overcome these challenges and
best position themselves with a unique market offering.”
With
several vacant units at the start of the 2019, it was all hands-on deck to
achieve a complete makeover over the last 12 months. The transformations are clearly oriented towards a new
generation of entertainment, including Cineworld’s first 4DX cinema in the
North East which boasts ‘extreme sensory cinema’ capable of simulating effects
like water, wind, scent, strobe lighting and motion to put you in the middle of
the action. It was the largest project to date at The Gate at a value of £7m. But
that’s not the only immersive entertainment on offer, with one of the largest
gaming and virtual reality entertainment centre in the UK, YuMe, and The
WonderBar and Mayfair Pub & Kitchen which offers guests interactive
multiplayer darts tournaments, live music, sports events and more.
The 220,000sq ft retail wonderland is now able to set itself apart from its competitors by combining forward-thinking market insight and a readiness to adapt for a changing leisure sector. Supporting this transformation, TFT provided proactive and technically informed advice to ensure that the works would achieve the vision of The Crown Estate and the expectations of The Gate’s many future visitors. As more venues appraise the potential of a new generation of retail, leisure, or perhaps more accurately a hybrid of the two, the specifics of how such projects are carried out could be a deciding factor in their long-term viability.
“Our projects and work streams for the site have been diverse; ranging
from large scale full common area refurbishment work to individual unit
enabling works, dilapidations and fit-out reviews, which has covered multiple
TFT offices, disciplines and skill matrix’s.”
It
is no secret that there is a high street crisis in the UK and the decline in
shoppers is at a growing rate, but do experience-led retail offerings promise
to reverse this loss? The Global Wellness Institute have reported that fitness
and wellbeing industry sales have been thriving as more and more
health-conscious individuals are making efforts to incorporate fitness into
their daily regimes. Similarly, we are seeing more funding going into inclusive
leisure activities for a wider customer profile, including disabled, elderly
and young consumers.
“Looking forward we see significant potential
for growth in the North East, with key infrastructure programmes rolled out
with this family-friendly leisure centre paving the way for the sector, proving
to be the best in its class.”
If you need a team of consultants with retail and leisure experience, and deep understanding of building materials and systems which those sectors demand, get in touch with us, we’d love to hear about your challenges.
TFT’s involvement in the 2019
upgrades to The Gate included:
MAP Works: Project Management, Principal Designer & M&E services for The Crown Estate to replace sections of the main roof, the air handling units and provided a building management system and fire alarm upgrade works for the centre.
Empire to Cineworld Refurbishment: Fit out review and monitoring of £7m refurbishment of the whole second floor level at The Gate to convert the old Empire cinema into Cineworld.
Sam Jacks to Mayfair Refurbishment: Fit out review and monitoring exercise of G10 fit out for new bar area.
Tiger Tiger to Eden Refurbishment: Fit out review, cost consultancy and monitoring of G11 fit out of new restaurant and bar area.
Bar Beyond to Wonderbar Refurbishment: Fit out review and monitoring of G5 to create the new Wonderbar from the former Bar Beyond.
Handmade Burger and Vacate unit F4 to YuMe Refurbishment:Landlord enabling works to facilitate YuMe occupation. Fit out review of YuMe to create one of the largest virtual reality units in the UK.
General Building Surveyor Roles:Maintenance Action Plan (MAP) for the next 10-years’ worth of maintenance works. Dilapidations of various units. Further feasibility appraisals for proposed projects.
[1]Major Events Help Tourism Grow In Newcastle and Gateshead. UMi. 2019.
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