Two senior hires for the Merrion Centre as new tenant moves in

Wed 08 Jun, 2016

Town Centre Securities PLC (TCS) has made two key appointments to the Merrion Centre’s management team with the recruitment of Darren Brookes as Operations Manager and James Broughton as Marketing Manager.
Darren Brookes will head up a team of 28 and is responsible for the daily operation of the famous Centre, TCS’s single largest asset which comprises of retail and leisure units, offices and a multi-storey car park. Mr Brookes has almost 20 years’ experience in the property industry, and joins from ECO Facilities Management where he was responsible for the delivery of operations nationally for a mixed range of properties including commercial, retail and residential.
James Broughton will lead on all marketing, PR and promotional activity for the Merrion Centre and has been tasked with working closely with tenants to attract new customers and enhance the overall visitor experience. With over 10 years’ senior marketing experience, Mr Broughton joins the Centre from Leeds Bradford Airport, and will be devising and implementing marketing activity to support its business partners in driving footfall and sales.
The Merrion Centre also welcomes its newest tenant this month, JR’s Barbershop, a traditional barbershop with a Middle Eastern twist. The business, which has been trading in Leeds for 6 years, is relocating to a new stylish 543 square foot unit at the Centre from Great George Street. It specialises in men’s hair cutting and styling, wet shaves, facial steaming, moustache and beard trimming and hot towel facials.
Helen Green, associate director at TCS, said: “Darren and James’s appointments reflect our strategy of growing a strong team of specialists. The Centre is currently part way through a comprehensive investment programme with work underway on the New Merrion House and Merrion Hotel. Darren’s experience will help ensure the smooth operation of the Centre during the delivery of these key projects while managing its daily operation, whereas James’s experience will be crucial in allowing us to shout about and showcase these projects, as well working with new and existing tenants to help them thrive through high calibre marketing and promotional activity.
“We’re also delighted to welcome JR’s Barbershop to the Centre, they have a great reputation in the City and offer a great product that we’re sure our customers will love – we wish them every success in their new home.”
The Merrion Centre is currently part way through a £50m investment strategy. Merrion Way has recently gone through extensive redevelopment creating a new leisure offering in the heart of Arena Quarter. The multi-million pound investment saw the 960 space car park completely refurbished and new contemporary, double height full glazed frontage leisure and restaurants units created on street level. The next phase of the investment has commenced with the redevelopment of New Merrion House and the refurbishment of Merrion Hotel, which will include a Marco Pierre White restaurant.