City’s business chief Waddell is set to step down
NE1 SUPREMO ANNOUNCES PLANS TO QUIT ROLE IN SUMMER
THE man who has provided a voice for struggling businesses in Newcastle’s city centre during the pandemic is to step down.
Adrian Waddell, chief executive of Newcastle’s business improvement district NE1, is to leave his job after 11 years with the organisation and three in its top position.
Mr Waddell helped NE1 to successfully win the ballot of members it needs to continue its operation when it was last held in 2018.
He has also been a prominent voice for pubs, restaurants and other city centre businesses as they have suffered huge challenges during the lockdown.
He will remain in post for the next six months as the city centre begins to re-open and to ensure an orderly hand-over to his successor over the summer. A search for the next chief executive has begun.
Mr Waddell said: “This last year has been very challenging for city businesses, almost across the board.
“Now we are hopefully over the worst NE1 is looking forward to the future and is in a strong position to tackle the challenges facing the city post-Covid, along with making the most of the new opportunities that will undoubtedly emerge.
“With the path ahead looking more optimistic, it was the right time to step down, leaving the way clear for my successor to shape the next, exciting chapter for NE1 and the city.
“I think Newcastle is in a strong position with lots of exciting things in the pipeline. We can be ambitious for the city’s future.
“NE1’s experienced team is well positioned to continue its important work with city centre businesses and with the support of the NE1 board.”
Mr Waddell, a former soldier, took the top job at NE1 in 2018, having previously been its operations director.
His time at the organisation has seen it become one of the largest and most successful BID companies in the UK.
He has been critical of the lack of Government support for businesses forced to close during lockdowns, at one point saying firms were in “utter despair” at Ministers’ handling of the pandemic.
Last week he gave a cautious welcome to the Government’s roadmap to end the national lockdown but called on Chancellor Rishi Sunak to announce support for businesses in this week’s Budget.
Adam Serfontein, chairman of the board of NE1 Ltd, said: “Adrian has been a passionate and committed chief executive who has done a great job navigating NE1 and the team through one of the most difficult years in business history.
“In his role as chief executive and prior to that as operations director of NE1 he has accrued an impressive track record in delivering major milestone projects which have helped shape the city. We wish him well for the future.”
OUR recent feature on the deserted Wolsington House pub in North Shields has generated plenty of interest.
The former boozer, which now sits alone on the town’s Burdon Main Row overlooking the River Tyne, was built in 1902 and has stood empty for the last 20 years.
Many people on the ChronicleLive social media pages have called for the building – which has planning permission to be turned into town houses – to be saved and possibly even reopened as a bar again.
Anne67 wrote: “Just walked by this the other day. It is a lovely building, very decorative. Somebody please keep the building and open it as a pub or restaurant – not more houses.”
Shields1 added: “The place was always heaving. Great bar.
“Would be nice to see some local entrepreneur bring it back to its former glory. It is in a prime location, next to all the development going on.”
For decades the Wolsington House served the local community and the workforce of Smith’s Dock, which sat right on the pub’s doorstep.
These days Smith’s Dock is an area of major regeneration, described in the advertising blurb as “a modern coastal community just a stone’s skim from the city centre.
“Making the most of the waterside location, it will be home to beautiful contemporary living and thoughtfully designed public spaces and plenty of places to eat, drink and play.”
It derives its name from the famous shipyard that occupied the site from Victorian times to the late 20th century.
The dock was a hive of heavy industry and provided work for thousands of skilled men.
The company’s roots stretched way back to the early 19th century.
In 1810, Thomas Smith bought William Rowe’s shipyard at St Peter’s in Newcastle and went into business with his two sons as William Smith and Co.
They expanded the works to such an extent they had to lease Laing’s Dock at North Shields to cope with demand.
Later in 1822 they also opened a ballast quay at the Limekiln Shore.
Thomas Smith died in 1836 and the new company of T and W Smith bought up the Limekiln Shore in 1849, opening a dock there in 1851.
A glass-roofed shed was built over the North Shields yard and the first ship launched was the Termagent on February 21, 1852.
Control of the company came to Eustace Smith in 1882.
He began a new period of expansion at North Shields in 1891 under the title of Smith’s Dock Co Ltd.
After 1909, ship repair largely replaced shipbuilding at the North Shields yard.
The firm had seven dry docks. There was one large dock, three medium ones in the Bull Ring area and two small ones. There was another small dock next to the Fish Quay, which had the nickname of Haddock Shop.
All types of vessels were repaired there, including coasters, tankers, bulk carriers, tugs, fishing boats and offshore vessels. The firm also carried out conversions and extensions.
Among the ships that arrived at the site over the years were the Celtic Star, Fresno Star, Trojan Star, Christian Holm and British Courage. In 1983, the SS Uganda Hospital Ship returned from the Falklands War to be refitted into a cruise ship at Smith’s Dock.
The yard closed in 1987 after building and repairing hundreds of vessels over the decades.
It was then used on and off by marine companies specialising in North Sea oil work before the site became derelict and was finally flattened.
Property company Places for People, who bought the land in 2006, said they hoped the first homes built at the site would be the beginnings of a ‘vibrant riverside community.’
Today, that vision is well on its way.
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