Hi, Anthea, how are you doing? How's lockdown treating you?

 

I'm very well. thank you, David. Yes, it's been a difficult time, obviously, both personally and professionally to get through the last 12 months. But it's great to see that there's light at the end of the tunnel for everybody. The vaccine rollout has been fantastic. And we're starting to see our customers and occupiers re-engage with Kings Cross, which means that the team here are back in the office and supporting occupiers as they come back to site.

 

What's its level of ‘busy-ness’ at the moment?

 

It's varied. I mean, the retail and hospitality sectors have had a storming start from April 12th. We've seen bookings across the F&B up really significantly. You know, the German Gym had over 15,000 covers on the terrace [reservations] when they opened on the 12th of April. We've seen HICCE report 143% increase in sales, compared to the same time, same weekend in 2019. To get into the Hart Brothers restaurant there is a 1000 seat waiting list at the weekend. So, there is a real appetite for people to get back out and enjoy what they've missed so much, in terms of eating and dining. And we're seeing people really engaged with the retail stores as well; Nike have had their best ever weekend when they were able to open at the beginning of April. So there is a real appetite for customers. 

Obviously, the challenge we have at the moment from a dining perspective, that it's all external. And obviously we're hoping that that will relax again on the 17th of May. So, we're seeing consumers really starting to come back to site. They've enjoyed the public realm over the last 12 months anyway, because obviously, we have the benefits of amazing public spaces that people really wanted to use during the lockdown for exercise and for their physical and mental wellbeing. So, you know, we have that audience there. And they're really starting to come back to site. With the occupiers, as you would expect, there is a slower return. We’ve got about 10% occupancy in the buildings at the moment, but that is growing all the time. And we're expecting to see that that will continue to increase over the coming months, heading towards summer, once the further relaxation rules and social distancing rules are anticipated to relax further.

 

We are speaking the day after the news was released about NLA choosing Coal Drops, and Kings Cross, as its first nomadic drop-down, pop-up, whatever you want to call it, home. What effect do you think that will have on the area, and the wider area?

 

Well, it's really, really exciting. We've been talking to you, for a number of months, to try and facilitate this for you. And to come to Coal Drops, this iconic building for the NLA will be absolutely amazing. And what's really exciting for us is, obviously we've moved into a new use class E order, and allowing us to work with you to test what retail spaces can be used for. You're going to be hosting events, exhibitions, activities, looking at your Don't Move, Improve, your London Festival of Architecture, bringing the model there, having it accessible to everybody, with your café offer. And it will be a great opportunity for us both to see how flexible spaces can be used, the flexibility of retail spaces and how they can be used and how customers actually engage with them, both within our industry and the general public consumer. So, it's really, really exciting to bring the NLA to the estate. Obviously, we have a close relationship with you and want to continue to build on that. And it's right at the heart of our retail destination. So that opportunity to test them for new retail spaces under the new use class order will be a great opportunity to look at how we can move forward into what is inevitably a different retail world, post-pandemic.

You mentioned in the press release and quotes attributed to you that you thought that learning, for example, has never been more important as we come out of the post-pandemic period. Alongside culture, presumably, do you think those are very important elements for mixed regeneration zones, but more broadly, the wider city as it comes out of pandemic period? 

 

Absolutely. I mean, King’s Cross has education as one of its main foundations. We have two primary schools here, the Kings Cross Academy and Frank Barnes school for deaf children. And we're also blessed with having UAL and CSM on site and over 4000 students every year studying at King’s Cross. That is a pivotal foundation of the estate and is a very important part of our ESG approach to ensuring education and learning flows through the community. And that we actually use King's Cross to enable that. So, having the NLA come to Kings Cross and continue to drive that strategy of education and learning in the local community, not just on the estate but wider into the surrounding areas of Kings Cross and then equally across London, is a really exciting proposition for us. And it is actually at the heart of one of the real reasons for creating this mixed-use scheme. And one of the most impressive parts of the estate

 

I've often thought that your very early move to get Central Saint Martins in was the masterstroke that allowed the rest of the scheme's success. Is that something that you point to too, or do you think there's a wider issue or move that prompted the success of King’s Cross?

 

I think it's absolutely at the heart of one of the main reasons that King’s Cross as a destination has become so successful, because it really does focus on the community. And that's both locally and also globally with students coming here – because this is one of the best design and art universities in the world. 

But I think in addition to that, what we've learned particularly through the pandemic, is the importance of the public realm., We have created fantastic pedestrian spaces, green spaces, opportunities to do sports and leisure around the estate and around the building, and it is open and accessible to all. And that really, I think, has resonated with a lot of people throughout people's journeys. But it's more important now than it ever was before. 

I think in addition to that, we've touched on the education, story of arts and culture as well, and we have significant pieces of public art in and around the estate, which means that again, attracts an audience that is both focused on arts and culture. Equally, there is the heritage of the buildings that we're creating. 

In addition to that, we have got world-class commercial buildings, here, home to a number of large global corporates: Google, Sony, Nike, Facebook. That drives creativity and innovation, and I've worked very closely with those occupiers which means that it's got a really niche feel, and a very diverse feel, being home to so many tech and innovative businesses. 

And I think finally, it's the estate's connectivity. You know, sitting adjacent to King’s Cross, Eurotunnel and St. Pancras station, means this is so easily accessible, both domestically and hopefully, to our international visitors as well as soon as they're able to return. 

So, I like to think of it as an onion: there's a number of different layers to it, but it's heart is about people and places, creativity and innovation. I think all those different pillars, and all those layers of the onion add to its cumulative impact as a great space, and a greater space in London, and globally, across the world.

 

So, last question. You mentioned all those covers that the German Gym was doing? I think you said 15,000 covers booked, and all those queues. As a King's Cross developer, do you get a special pass that allows you to jump those queues?

 

Unfortunately, we don't! (laughs) As you can imagine, we've been very close to our retail and F&B occupiers. And I think it's been a very, very difficult time for them. We have tried to support them as best we were able to, particularly now as they are able to reopen and re-energize and rebalance themselves and look forward to a sustainable future. We don't get any green cards, unfortunately! But we do have very strong relationships with our retailers, our hospitality and F&B. And it's our role as curators, landlords on behalf of our investors in the estate that we must work with them to look to the future and ensure that they have a fantastic re-emergence from the pandemic.

 

Well, I wish you the best of luck, and I'm looking forward to coming to sample some of those restaurants, when we drop down. So thank you very much, Anthea. Bye

 

Thanks very much, David! bye!

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