SOLUTION DRIVEN, WITH PROVEN EXPERIENCE

About Us

Amidst the dynamic changes in the UK property market, the continued growth of the food hall industry and the emergence of third space concepts, Next Phase is the combination of Simon and Hayden’s experience and innovative spirit.

Next Phase was founded with the goal of combining their experience as operators and consultants, united with a singular mission: to support landlords and operators in the quickly evolving landscape of high streets, town centres, and shopping centres.

In a world where traditional retail faced decline and online shopping surged, vacant spaces became a significant challenge. Next Phase was founded with a commitment to delivering real insights, innovation, and commercial success.

Our mission is clear-cut: to rejuvenate vacant spaces into thriving, innovative destinations. We breathe new life into a variety of spaces and have experience in a huge range of concepts, from major developments to high streets, shopping centres, department stores and industrial units. Our innovative solutions encompass food halls, workspaces, socialising venues, modern retail establishments, performance spaces, and more.

Drawing upon our expertise, we craft people-centric environments that align with solid commercial principles. Our goal is to assist clients in ushering in the ‘Next Phase’ of property, marked by revitalisation, opportunities, and prosperity for communities throughout the UK.

Our Team

Simon Anderson

  • Simon Anderson is a respected figure in the hospitality industry. He is known for his creativity and ability to identify and nurture new talent. Simon is a thought leader in the food hall industry. He has spoken at industry events and written articles about the future of food halls that have shaped how the industry has evolved in the UK.

    In an interview with The Caterer, Simon said his goals are to "create spaces where people can come together to eat, drink, and be entertained." He believes that food halls can play an important role in creating a sense of community and bringing people together, as well as deliver commercial assets in underperforming spaces.

    Simon is an experienced hospitality consultant working on exciting projects in the UK and worldwide. Most recently, working with revolutionary food business Sessions, owners of Shelter Hall in Brighton. Simon advised on the food and beverage strategy for the $5bn Msheireb Downtown project in Doha, a major urban regeneration project that includes a new food hall. He worked with the owners of The Old Dairy Food Hall in Selfoss, Iceland, to renovate the historic dairy factory and transform it into a popular food hall.

    Simon has helped develop a football-based competitive socialising concept with three premiership legends. The concept, which is still in the early stages, will feature food, drinks, and games inspired by football.

    He has also redeveloped two of the UK's most iconic factories into mixed-use concepts anchored by food halls. The projects are still in the planning stages, but have the potential to create new and exciting dining destinations.

    Previously, he worked as the Chief Operations & Creative Officer of Market Hall, helping it grow from an idea to the UK’s leading food hall business with multiple sites. Awarded ‘Opening of the Year’ at Restaurant Magazine’s R200 Awards, the ‘Re:lax’ and ‘Re:tail’ awards at the Revo Gold Awards, ‘Occupier of the Year’ by Property Week, ‘Best Destination Opening’ at the CGA Hero & Icons Awards and shortlisted as ‘Best Venue’ at the Retailers’ Retailer Awards 2020.

    Simon has experience with several ground-breaking brands across multiple sectors, including food and drink, coworking, art, digital marketing and advertising.

hayden ferriby

  • Hayden Ferriby is an experienced entrepreneur and consultant with over 25 years of experience in retail and hospitality. His expertise lies in revitalising town centres and dispelling the notion that high streets are dying. With a strong track record, he excels in creating vibrant, sustainable, community-focused public spaces, markets, and food halls.

    Commencing his property career as a consultant, Hayden specialised in boosting revenue and footfall for shopping centres and retail parks. He identified underused areas and developed new revenue streams, pioneering experiential and pop-up marketing in retail environments.

    Hayden co-founded Next Phase to create a company that identified assets which needed repurposing, with the Next Phase team working with local authorities and landlords to identify underused or vacant spaces, repurposing them into assets driving revenue and footfall through innovative commercial uses.

    Earlier in his career, he joined Quarterbridge as a director, playing a pivotal role in redeveloping successful markets such as Brixton Markets, the Doncaster Market estate, and Crewe Market Hall.

    For five years, he was the director in charge of all operations for Market Asset Management, one of the UK's largest market and food hall operators, managing all elements of five major assets, which include fourteen distinct markets, food halls, and competitive leisure operations, including one of the largest market estates in the UK.

    In 2021, Hayden co-founded Market Curators, a market specialist company focusing on modernising markets. They've undertaken high-profile projects, creating new ventures and transforming existing ones.

    A strong advocate for small businesses and local communities, especially within markets and food halls, Hayden sees them as catalysts for economic growth and cultural vibrancy. He's skilled at navigating the political intricacies of town centre projects and engaging stakeholders effectively.

    His approach centres around creating versatile commercial and social hubs that cater to activities, dining, entertainment, and shopping. Each location is tailored to the community's specific needs, reflecting Hayden's commitment to unique impact.

    Hayden has been appointed to the High Streets Task Force and became a member of the Institute of Place Management.

emma forbes

  • Emma has been involved in over fifty regeneration projects, from feasibility studies to major regeneration projects. This has included long-term involvement in developing the sites and ensuring they are vibrant and successful community hubs in some locations, notably Doncaster, Darlington and Crewe.

    Emma is CIPFA qualified in delivering better business cases, including full Green Book assessments to support funding bids, detailed ten-year forecasts and more lightweight business and financial planning. She has overseen commercial activity within existing site operations and developed projections and business cases for future sites.

    In her previous role as Senior Associate for Market Curators, she supported Local Authorities, Landlords and Asset Managers to deliver vibrant, independent-led venues in their town centres, specialising in market and food hall projects.

    She has acted as Business Development Manager for Market Asset Management for the last five years, directly operating community hub markets and food halls across the UK, notably Doncaster Markets (including the Wool Market), Crewe Market Hall and Darlington Market.

    Her first major event, the Darlington Food and Drink Festival, won NABMA’s award for best UK Food Market, and working with the team, she has launched five market and food hall venues in the last four years.

    Emma has successfully pre-let a number of commercial markets and food halls, utilising modern methods to attract and shortlist the best local business talent, from enquiry to completed lease. She has worked directly with over a hundred small businesses to develop their business plans and tenancies within the venues she works with, creating a specialist understanding of the needs of small businesses.

    She applies these principles to engagement work, leading meaningful public and stakeholder engagement exercises across a range of projects.

    She now specialises in commercial development to create destination independent-led venues which act as footfall drivers to support town centre regeneration.

How we can help

All of our projects are individually specified to suit the needs of our partners and clients.

Get in touch for a no-obligation conversation to discuss your project, and we can work with you to create a proposal to support your needs.

  • We identify vacant or underutilised space and explore opportunities to attract increased footfall, deliver commercial returns and diversify the use of space to invigorate your venue.

  • We combine detailed data analysis with stakeholder engagement, competitor analysis, precedents and industry data to provide you with options for your site or vacant space.

  • We provide detailed assessments of sites to understand their current offer and future potential. Whether it be testing a concept to confirm its viability, or developing a scheme based on a wide range of options, we provide our clients with confidence in the preferred route forward for their site or vacant space.

  • Building on years of operational and commercial experience, we develop detailed business cases including income and expenditure forecasts, strategic plans and, where required, Green Book Assessments to support investment decisions and financial planning.

  • We cover all aspects of operational planning, from defining operating hours to detailing staffing schedules and maintenance programmes. Our frameworks support you to launch and manage your site effectively from day one.

  • Ensuring sites have the right mix of high-quality and diverse tenants can be crucial to their success. Our team are experienced in finding the best small business tenants, from lettings campaign to completed contracts. We help to create collaborative and productive tenant landlord relationships by creating clear expectations and acting as a critical friend.

  • We work with landlords and development companies to procure an operator(s) for their development, either at soft market testing stage or final contract negotiations.

  • We work with existing commercial operators to review processes, operations, profitability etc to enhance the customer experience, maximise returns and increase efficiency within the operation.

  • Our team can act as a critical friend to site operators to help with day-to-day management, tenant curation and strategic planning, or lead on operational delivery as required.