National charity embarks on major expansion plan

Newlife is aiming to expand its retail presence in the Midlands and the North to help more children across the UK.

The national charity, which is focused on helping disabled children, has been selling donated items for over 30 years to raise funds for vital services.

Currently operating from 10 stores and two distribution centres across the UK, Newlife is now looking for larger stores of 8,000 to 10,000 sq ft and smaller ones of 5,000 to 8,000 sq ft in several areas, including Burton on Trent, Coventry, and Northampton. They’re also considering other locations like Blackburn, Bradford, Huddersfield, Hull, Rotherham, Stockport, Wigan and Wirral.

Fiona Robinson, CEO of Newlife, said: “This is an exciting time of growth across our retail operation. We look forward to being able to extend our store portfolio in order to help more disabled children across the UK.”

The organisation is working with property consultants Johnson Fellows and Andy Guest & Co. to find new stores and help with lease agreements.

Andy Guest, of Andy Guest & Co, said: “Newlife will provide a fresh, fashion-driven, retail fascia which will be new to many of the target locations. I do not doubt that the great value offered will prove popular with shoppers and drive footfall in the retail schemes selected. Added to that is the excellent objective of the charity, to raise funds for disabled children. It is a tremendous project to be involved with and we hope to be rolling out the first new stores before too long.”