Regent Centre facts for kids
Regent Centre is a big area in Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It has many offices and homes. Lots of different companies have their offices here. For example, the main office for the bank Virgin Money is at Regent Centre.
The centre also has its own special transport hub. This hub includes a station for the Tyne & Wear Metro train and a place where buses stop. This makes it easy for people to get to and from Regent Centre.
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How Regent Centre Started
Building Regent Centre began in 1970 and finished in 1981. When it was done, it was the biggest office area in Europe! It covered a huge space of about 11 acres (4.5 ha).
Before Regent Centre was built, the land was a coal mine called Regent Pit. This mine was part of the Coxlodge Colliery (which is a coal mine and its buildings).
In 2008, Regent Centre got a new look and a new slogan: "Better for Business."
Today, a company called Omnia Offices owns Regent Centre. They bought it in 2015. They are changing some of the office buildings into apartments for people to live in.
Who Works at Regent Centre?
Many companies have offices at Regent Centre.
- Virgin Money
- LNER (a train company)
In the past, other big organisations had offices here too. These included:
- HM Revenue & Customs (who deal with taxes)
- The Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA)
- The Health & Safety Executive
- The Labour Party (a political party)
Other companies like The Sage Group, Northern Engineering Industries, Cundall, and AMEC also used to be here. The Open University also had a local centre here until 2009.
Besides offices, there are also shops and services. You can find a hair salon, a coffee shop, a gym, and a place for physiotherapy. There used to be a Barclays Bank branch here too.
What's Nearby?
Regent Centre is in a great spot. You can easily walk to many useful places.
- Regent Centre Interchange: The train and bus station.
- Gosforth Academy: A local high school.
- Gosforth Library and Customer Service Centre.
- Gosforth Leisure Centre: This has swimming pools and a gym.
There's also a big Asda supermarket close by. It even has a restaurant inside. Across from Asda, there's a Marks & Spencer food store. The main street of Gosforth, called Gosforth High Street, is also just a few minutes' walk away. St Charles' Primary school is also nearby.
Regent Point: A New Building
Regent Point is a newer part of the Regent Centre site. It is right next to the Tyne & Wear Metro line. Plans were approved to make this area bigger and more modern.
Work on Regent Point started in April 2007. The main building work began in early 2008. This new building is four storeys high and has a glass tower on the corner. It was designed to look similar to the other buildings at Regent Centre. It is about 100,000 sq ft (9,300 m2) in size.
The land where Regent Point stands was empty for many years. An old building called Clayton House was pulled down in 1999. There were different ideas for what to build there before Regent Point was finally approved.
The company that built Regent Point was Bowmer & Kirkland. The building was designed to be very good for the environment, earning an "Excellent" rating.
In 2013, the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Trust bought Regent Point.
Virgin Money's Headquarters
The main office for Virgin Money is in a building called Jubilee House. This building is next to Regent Centre.
For many years, the most famous building at Regent Centre was Northern Rock's old 7-storey tower. This tower was built in 1965. In 2006, the old tower was pulled down. A new, taller building called Partnership House was built in its place. This new building is 10 storeys high and cost £35 million. It was finished in November 2008.
Northern Rock had some money problems in 2007. The British government took over the company in 2008. Because of this, Northern Rock decided to become smaller and had to let go of some staff. They also decided to rent out or sell their new tower building.
Newcastle City Council bought the building for £22 million. They then rented it out to another company for 25 years. After that company had problems, a law firm called Clifford Chance took over the lease in 2017.
In November 2011, Virgin Money agreed to buy Northern Rock from the government. The deal was completed in 2012. On October 12, 2012, Northern Rock officially became Virgin Money. The buildings then became Virgin Money's main offices for savings and mortgages. Northern Rock House was renamed Jubilee House as part of this change.
Buildings at Regent Centre
Regent Centre has many different office buildings. Some of them are named after famous local people. For example, John Dobson was a well-known architect, and Lord Eldon was an important person in law.
Here are some of the buildings:
- Arden House
- Bulman House
- Horsley House North
- Horsley House
- Eldon House West
- Northumbria House
- Dobson House
- Eldon House East
- Regent Point
The Grainger Suite is located inside Dobson House. Also, an accountancy firm called MHA Tait Walker has offices in Bulman House.
In 2015, the owners of the northern part of Regent Centre started looking at new ideas for the area. They began changing some of the office buildings into around 400 homes in 2018.
