Coal Drops Yard

King’s Cross in central London is one of Europe’s largest urban regeneration projects.

The 67-acre site is rich in history, and much of this heritage has been woven by the developers, led by Argent, into the new mix of office, education, retail and leisure space. The retail element is focused around Coal Drops Yard, a complex of Victorian brick arches which opened in 2018. It is a destination which draws from the quirky, creative and global spirit of this new city quarter and nurtures one-off, independent retailers.

Opera has provided strategic retail advice and retail delivery project management, working in close partnership with Argent and critically, the individual shop owners occupying space at Coal Drops Yard and other locations. Argent aim to be ‘the landlord of choice’ and so needed project managers who understood their vision for a truly distinctive retail offer. Attracting non-high street names, independents and concept stores is a demanding strategy because many of these tenants do not have large roll-out programmes or fit-out processes. Opera, with its expertise, has been able to mitigate risk by working in close liaison with the new retailers, offering advice, creating processes and generally coaching and supporting them until they are trading.