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Have you sorted your 2026 rebrand yet? If the answer is no, you’re one step behind Great Yarmouth.
The Norfolk seaside town has huge plans for 2026 that will completely transform its North Quay, and see multiple historic landmarks restored to their former glory. The ‘once in a generation’ revamp is set to begin this year with the reopening of the 19th century Maritime House and an art-deco pub called the Old Duke.
Maritime House sits on the seafront, and has been empty for about five years. It was initially built as a safe house for sailors who were shipwrecked nearby, but has also been a museum and a tourist information centre in its lifetime. Work is now underway to renovate it into a café and block of flats, with hopes to open up this spring.
Also returning in 2026 is the Iron Duke pub, which shut in 2007. After £2.4 million was raised by the council, work to restore the 1930s building has begun, and it should be back up and running – this time as a pub and diner – in summer.
On top of that, throughout the year the £18 million restoration of the Victorian Winter Gardens will be ticking away, with a provisional opening date of 2027. The landmark, which was built in Torquay in 1878 but moved to Great Yarmouth in 1904, will be revived as a ‘People’s Palace’ with indoor gardens, community areas, cafés and various venues for leisure, entertainment and learning.
The biggest change, however, will be to the town’s North Quay, which could completely transform over the next few years. A £20 million plan is set to oversee a huge makeover of the area, improving infrastructure and making space for ‘a high-quality mix of commercial, residential, leisure, and public realm uses’.
In practice, that looks like building a huge new outlet centre, complete with a cinema, loads of shops and restaurants, as well as plenty of housing and a 120-room hotel. The goal is to create a place that people want to visit to bolster Yarmouth’s tourist offerings, and improve wellbeing for locals ‘by providing inclusive, accessible spaces that meet the evolving needs of the community’. At the moment, the North Quay project is still in its planning phase and a public consultation will be held this spring to get residents’ opinions on the development.
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