NEWPORT has seen the start of a resurgence in the past year, helped immensely by the opening of Friars Walk in November 2015.

Almost one year on, and the team behind the £100million retail and leisure scheme are keen to show they are backing the cityNewport.

Newport had been waiting for 30 years for a new city-centre shopping developmentdestination.

There had been many false dawns during that period, and even when construction started on Friars Walk, there were still those who were convinced that the centre would never open.

But at 9am on November 12, 2015, they were proved wrong.

In the first year, it is estimated that there will have been 10.5million visits made to its shops, restaurants, the cinema and bowling alley.

In other parts of the city centre, other businesses have taken the plunge and opened, including Urban Tap House, Slipping Jimmy’s and Mojo the FoodBar.

Simon Pullen, centre director of Friars Walk and the nearby Kingsway Centre for owners Queensberry, said: “Newport is a very important city.

“It is the gateway to Wales, it has a local authority that has a can do attitude and isare willing to give help and assistance for the good of the businesses and residents.

“We will continue to work with Newport City Council, and all the city-centre partners, including Newport Now and Newport Live, to integrate the whole of the city centre.”

There will be a number of events going on to mark the first anniversary of the centre, which this year coincides with the annual Christmas lights switch-on in in the city centre.

Victoria Holloway, corporate marketing director for Queensberry, the company behind the redevelopment of Friars Walk, said: “As this is an open centre, it is an integral part of the whole city centre in Newport.

“We are working with all the partners to find ways for all the traders to get involved with any events being hosted in the city centre.

“We held a fringe event during the recent Newport Food Festival which saw demonstrations by some of the food tenants at Usk Plaza.

“We also staged a very successful student lock-in event, which was the first of its kind in Newport.

“The Big Splash is an established event in the city and we wanted people to experience it on our site, so we worked with the organisers on how we could get involved.

“We will continue to support it next year.

“It is really important to us that we are an integral part of the city centre, not separate to it.”

MrSimon Pullen said: “Putting these events on is something that links in with the whole city centre.

“Retailers can get involved. We make sure it is something that the people of Newport want to come along to and it is that which will make more people come into the city centre and then more business will come into the vacant spaces.

“These events staged throughout the whole of the city centre can be seen as a catalyst for the total regeneration of the area.”

There are 50 stores in Friars Walk and the Kingsway – which has seen a massive increase in footfall in the past year – along with 12 restaurants and the other leisure venuesofferings.

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