Hopetown Darlington is a new £35 million attraction showcasing Darlington’s rich history. The attraction will play a central role in the bicentenary celebrations of the Stockton & Darlington Railway this year and features a museum, open store, outdoor play area and immersive ride.

We worked across the project to mentor and support key management staff from the Darlington Borough Council Team as they developed the attraction. This included the creation of strategies for immersive retail, food and beverage, and secondary spend opportunities (including photography, pop up retail and penny presses).

Varied support and project work was required including research, business planning, partnerships and staff training.

As well as support, we delivered direct project management for key elements of the project such as the creation of the retail space. We worked to transform initial plans for a ‘traditional shop’ to a fully immersive retail space that became a key part of the visitor experience. We created a designed the retail space, developed over 300 bespoke products and led on visual merchandising (and associated staff training). Our project management and delivery on this project covered every aspect of retail, with a focus on the highest attention to detail as possible.