Gainsborough’s Marshall’s Yard: Birth of a renaissance

Little more than a year ago, Marshall’s Yard in Gainsborough was a bit of a mess. It wasn’t so much that things had gone wrong – they hadn’t – or that plans were not in place – they were. But mud and building materials were the predominant feature and the robustly constructed sheds, which had been home to a steam engine manufacturing plant from the middle of the 19th century onwards, had fallen into disuse.

Today, the difference in this relatively isolated spot in the north of Lincolnshire is striking. Where the mud used to be there are landscaped green areas and an open-air car park. And the once-empty sheds now house a wide range of mainstream retailers.

The eight-acre (3.2ha) site is now a real target for locals, with 225,000 sq ft (20,900 sq m) of retail space, a JJB health and fitness club and 50,000 sq ft (4,645 sq m) of office space.

The scheme is built around a centrally located 350-space car park. Although some of the structures that have been provided for retailers are new, they have been designed in keeping with the architectural heritage. This raises the development considerably above the norm.

The most important fact, however, is that the scheme is fully let less than two years since construction started. This is something of a leap of faith on the part of the many retailers that have chosen to set up shop here, because Gainsborough is not the most wealthy town that you are ever likely to visit.

Even Suzanne Fysh, regeneration service manager for West Lindsey District Council, which Marshall’s Yard is part of, admits that some areas of Gainsborough are among the most deprived in the country – unemployment is running at about 11 per cent in two of the council’s wards. In fact, before the Dransfield development launched, there were more reasons not to visit Gainsborough than there were to make the trip – notwithstanding the town’s medieval half-timbered manor house.

“Marshall’s Yard is bringing in a lot of people. Before, you either went to Scunthorpe, Retford or Meadowhall if you wanted to go shopping. Now, people are coming to Gainsborough instead,” says Fysh.

But will the gleaming new shops transform the fortunes of this down-at-heel part of a down-at-heel county? And, equally, will Marshall’s Yard’s tenants be smiling five years from now, when rent reviews fall due?

As things stand, names such as Next, Marks & Spencer, Body Shop and New Look all feature in the development and almost all of them are contained within units where many of the original features have been retained and enhanced using reclaimed materials.

In total, there are 27 retailers housed here, almost all of which are new to the town. Despite the fact that the scheme is a retail park, it has more of a market square feel about it, because the central area has been made green with trees and small squares of grass.

There is also a strong feeling of shared risk – not least on the part of sharp-suited Dransfield Properties managing director Mark Dransfield, who is largely responsible for the transformation. He has gambled a fair amount to get Marshall’s Yard up and running. Gainsborough has a population of only 18,500 and, while the town has a long history, this would not, under normal circumstances, be a good enough reason to build an open-air shopping centre.

For the retailers, the risk lies in the fact that Gainsborough is a fair distance from its Lincolnshire and South Yorkshire neighbouring metropoli, so the scheme is reliant on people from the district’s more affluent hinterland driving into town to do a little shopping. Dransfield says he views the scheme as the “catalyst for a West Lindsey masterplan” that will involve building a new school and dragging the town up by its boot straps.

Value-adding attractions

However, having made the trip, what reasons are there for visitors to prolong their stay beyond the shopping? One draw is the scheme’s branch of Costa Coffee, which includes outside seating and was very well patronised on the day of visiting. The shop may bring a touch of the continental to Gainsborough, but caf頳ociety this is not – most people remained indoors sipping their skinny lattes and cappuccinos.

For those wanting to work off the effects of too many pain au chocolats, the 22,500 sq ft (2,090 sq m) JJB health and leisure club has a huge number of machines designed to take your breath away, combined with a swimming pool, sauna and aerobic studio. On the mid-morning day of my visit, the hair colour of those busy experiencing the burn was distinctly grey. Nevertheless, the gym is clearly a hit with locals and since it opened in June, 2,700 people have signed up for membership.

With the car park almost full and shops doing a brisk trade, retailers must be reasonably happy as well. Rents, which are agreed on a base turnover and cap basis, range from£35 a sq ft (377 a sq m) down to£17.50 a sq ft (188 a sq m) for larger-space occupiers, according to Dransfield. He is clearly optimistic about his tenants’ futures. “I would expect growth of about 20 to 25 per cent in five years’ time,” he says. “I think that Marshall’s Yard will become more fashion-oriented as rents rise.”

On this reckoning, you would have to forecast that the branch of Allied Carpets, which was one of the first tenants to agree terms, may choose to look elsewhere a few years down the line. But, for the moment at least, there seem to be plenty of shoppers on the hunt for new floor coverings.

However, the question that springs from all of this is what effect the development will have on raising the general level of prosperity in the rest of the town.

Its prospects certainly look good. In his excitable way, during the Marshall’s Yard tour, Dransfield highlights the large number of shoppers in the development’s pint-sized Carphone Warehouse. This is hardly surprising, because there appear to be no other mobile phone retailers in the town. But, given that many high streets today seem to exist more or less to house network phone retailers, this fact alone might suggest that the location is less than prosperous. On the other hand, the sheer number of shoppers in the Carphone store might equally be seen as an indication of severely pent-up demand that is at last finding a release.

Marshall’s Yard has also lent a new lease of life to a sleepy town. The manageress of Costa Coffee says: “Gainsborough used to be dead on a Sunday. But now it’s busy, just as a result of the yard.”

This, then, is a location on the cusp, depending on how you look at things. For those of Dransfield’s inclination, it is a town that is at last on the up and one where shoppers from a substantial radius will flock to revive fortunes and make the tills ring. Viewed this way, Gainsborough is at the beginning of a renaissance that may well lead to other towns in the area looking over its urban shoulders at a new competitor. Certainly, the decision by West Lindsey District Council to relocate its offices to a building on one of the corners of Marshall’s Yard must be a vote of local confidence.

Equally, it may be a local school holiday, but it’s apparent that the great majority of people parked in the yard are not just here for a quick visit. This is a development that has all the hallmarks of a destination.

Yet nothing is certain. Away from Marshall’s Yard, relatively little has changed in the past year and there are still a lot of shoppers perusing the many charity and discount shops. In this light, the promotional DVD for the scheme and the phrase “a sustainable economic future for the town centre” stands out.

When Prospect Estates teamed up with Dransfield in 2002 with a plan to revitalise Gainsborough, the creation of a bustling mixed-use development must have been high on the agenda. By this measure, Gainsborough is already a success. It probably still has some way to go before the goal of turning the town’s fortunes around is entirely achieved, but it has clearly made giant strides in that direction.

This is a town that needed some help and the£35 million injection it has received may prove that retail property really can revive an overlooked location.