Sceptre winner
Published: 11 October, 2006
At the tender age of 28 Gavin Prior is already operations manager at the MetroCentre in Gateshead, the largest retail and leisure destination in Europe. His move to the centre in January 2006 was the culmination of an 11-year career with Capital Shopping Centres, which began as a junior administrator at the Harlequin centre in Watford.
In fact, for the second half of 2005, he was responsible for operations at both the MetroCentre and the Harlequin, at a time when the company was consulting for the outsourcing of all hard and soft services at all of its centres.
Gavin has also taken on the responsibility of co-ordinating the MetroCentre's £10m-plus service charge budget and since his arrival he has introduced a new retailer liaison programme, improving dialogue with the centre's 300-plus tenants. According to Capital Shopping Centres, this aspect of his role has been particularly important since the opening of the new Red Mall.
