NEWPORT'S Friars Walk shopping centre scooped a national award last night when it was named 'Best New Centre' at the Revo Gold Awards held in London.

The awards recognise achievement within the retail property industry.

The 'New Centre' category covers new centres of any size or format whether they are in town centre, edge of town or out of town.

The award is designed to recognise developments that have taken the industry forward 'setting new benchmarks and levels of innovation'.

Peter Courtney, Award Chairman and Director of Lunson Mitchenall paid tribute to Friars Walk: "In 2011, when Friars Walk achieved planning consent, Newport city centre was in total decline with retail relocations to out of town retail parks, a non-existent food & beverage offering and no quality leisure offer.

"Nine months on from opening Queensberry has transformed Friars Walk with a first-class retail, F&B and leisure offer at the scheme and throughout the city. National retailers, restaurateurs and major employers have now been attracted to Newport. Resulting from a ground-breaking private-public partnership, the benefits to both have been significant."

Paul Sargent, Chief Executive and Co-Founder, Queensberry said it was "fantastic" to win the award, adding: "This is my fourth consecutive win of a Revo Award and the first as Queensberry. It's always an honour being chosen by your peers. It’s a great example of public/private partnership working at its best.

"Within five years we have become market leaders, we have expanded our team to 18, we have a diverse development pipeline throughout the UK and this award is testament to our results-focused approach."