THE METRO CENTRE: Opens at Gateshead Available to Purchase

What will be the largest shopping and leisure complex in Europe, the Metro Centre, opened on a site three miles outside Newcastle in October. Consisting of two million square feet of shopping enclosed in a glass‐covered mall half a mile long, the Metro Centre can boast a glittering roll‐call of prestigious retail names as tenants — Carrefour, Marks & Spencer (their first out of town venture), BHS, Boots, House of Fraser — you name it, they're there. The Metro Centre owes much to the vision of John Hall, of Cameron Hall Developments, who seems quite unfazed by the 23 per cent unemployment in the region and the fact that Gateshead is one of the nation's economic black spots. In this feature David Sands talks to John Hall about his concept of shopping centres, and also discusses the likely impact of the project on Newcastle city centre and particularly Eldon Square.