Brexit Won’t Derail North East Regeneration

The last year has been a period of great change at Henry Riley LLP, one that has provided a strong platform for future growth. Northern Insight discovers the secret to the firm’s success in the North East’s bustling built environment sector…

Amid the uncertainty of Brexit and recent gloomy warnings of recession, one North East company is quietly going about its business of revitalising the North East by driving forward a series of major regeneration schemes.

The Newcastle division of Henry Riley LLP, an international property and construction consultancy, believes there are plenty of reasons to be cheerful as the region is brought to life with new housing schemes, offices, retail parks and leisure facilities. Whilst it’s difficult to argue that economic conditions aren’t challenging, the company’s exploits show that it’s possible to succeed in the current environment.

The statistics are certainly impressive. Since the turn of the year, Henry Riley has won more than £3.4m of work, which has kickstarted various projects and seen others come to fruition in locations across the North East, from Teesside to Northumberland. The work has resulted in the creation of dozens of jobs and individuals and businesses across the built environment supply chain have benefited to the tune of hundreds of thousand of pounds. From Henry Riley’s perspective, the schemes have helped the firm grow its capabilities and reputation across the north of England and increase revenues across its UK consultancy to more than £14m.

Recent and current projects include two highprofile leisure schemes in Northumberland – one in Morpeth, the other in Berwick – and a £35m retail village that will attract a host of high street fashion brands to Scotch Corner. A Morrisons store in Amble is under construction and a healthcare unit in Tyneside and hotel in Alnwick are also in the pipeline. Meanwhile, Henry Riley’s work further afield is bringing new Co-op outlets to communities in southern Scotland.

Joel Neasham, a senior associate at Henry Riley, says: “There’s a lot of talk about the threat of Brexit but sometimes this can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. People automatically assume that revenue-generating opportunities will be shut off when in reality they won’t, or other opportunities will come along. Despite the uncertainty, we’ve won a lot of new work in the last year across the commercial, infrastructure, leisure, education, industrial & logistics, healthcare, retail and residential sectors.

“We’ve dealt well with a lot of changes in a fastevolving marketplace, including the adoption of digital technologies in construction projects and the uncertain political and economic climate. We’ve shown we can anticipate and react quickly to the needs of our clients and changes in the marketplace.”

It has also been a period of change internally at Henry Riley. The company’s recent expansion means it has outgrown its existing office and a move to bigger premises on Newcastle’s historic Grey Street is imminent. Also Joel, who has been at the company for the last fifteen years, is preparing to take over from Paul Nixon as head of the Newcastle office when the latter officially retires next year.

Joel says: “There’s a lot going on at the moment but we’re in a good place. The North East regeneration scene is alive and kicking and we’re proud to be at the heart of it, driving forward schemes that will have a positive impact on communities across the region.”