Coastal celebration marks opening of £4.5m Northumberland retail & leisure hub

A new retail and leisure development that is helping to transform a Northumberland town has officially opened with a VIP celebration.

The team behind The Links at South Beach in Blyth welcomed a 30-strong delivery team back on site on Friday (June 30) to mark the milestone, along with the fifth Viscount Ridley, Matt Ridley representing Blagdon Estates, which created the £4.5m scheme with partner Kingsmead Developments, and local Conservative MP for Blyth Valley, Ian Levy.

The location for the event was one of the parade’s newest occupiers, Italian coffee house Caffe Ginevra, whose move to Blyth in April represented an expansion from its Prudhoe base.

Other recent additions to The Links include Breeze Lounge, an independent café, bistro and cocktail venue, bakery giant Greggs, local beauty salon Shorelocks and a new Co-op convenience store will also be opening in the coming months.

It is likely the scheme, which is a major part of Blyth’s ongoing regeneration after the last few years saw an additional 600 homes built, will shortly be full as North East retail property consultancy @retail has received strong interest in two of the three remaining units.

Sunderland based building and civil engineering firm BRIMS Construction carried out the build of the 16,000 sq ft, first phase, overseen by North East construction consultancy Consult North.

Ian Levy MP commented: “I’m incredibly pleased to be here to mark the opening of such an important development for Blyth, one that has created jobs, shopping and leisure opportunities for the people that live here, as well as tourists coming to enjoy the town’s beautiful coastline.

“The fact that such high-profile brands have committed to the future of this town speaks volumes and I hope to be a regular visitor myself, and to see all the occupiers prosper in the coming years.”

Matt Ridley added: “This is a proud moment for all involved in bringing this first phase of developments at South Beach to fruition. I’d like to thank every individual that has been part of the story of The Links so far and can’t wait to see our next phase of development coming forward.”

By Matthew Neville – Senior Correspondent, Bdaily

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