In one of the last big investment deals before the bubble burst in the middle of last year, a consortium of Irish investors paid £250m for the 800,000-sq ft Frenchgate Interchange development in the heart of Doncaster.

Since then shopping centre values have taken a spectacular dive. But rather than crying into their Guinness, the  new owners have rolled up their sleeves and set about making the centre sweat.

A range of practical initiatives and a string of letting deals are changing the face of the centre, which was only refurbished and substantially extended two years ago by the Scarborough Development Group.

Paul Devlin, who represents the consortium, is at pains to explain that the new works don’t amount to yet another refurbishment. “What we’re doing is fine-tuning what was originally done,” he says. “For instance we’re changing the canopies at the centre entrances to make the shops more visible.”

Other changes include the installation of leather seating in the malls (“Doncaster deserves it,” says Devlin) and the replacement of the clinical white finishes with softer colours.

And looking ahead, plans are afoot to improve the interaction between the centre and the bus and rail stations that sit beneath it. Scarborough Development Group’s project was partially funded by the UK’s first transport Private Finance Initiative to create the new bus station. It ticks all the planners’ boxes by bringing together transport and retail under one roof.

With 1,900 bus movements a day, the bus station is a strong footfall generator. But in practice it’s still possible to arrive at the rail station and not know that there’s a shopping centre upstairs. New signage will help remedy this, as will the installation of departure screens in the food court, encouraging people waiting for trains to nip into the centre and browse.

Another key move is the reconfiguration of the food court, creating more seating space as well as introducing three new units: Wimpy has taken 1,400 sq ft for a new table-service burger restaurant; while the other two units will offer fish & chips and asian food.

And the new owners are keen to introduce more ‘pit-stop’ catering scattered throughout the centre. As an example, a 1,200-sq ft Esquires Coffee House is set to open on the lower level of the centre in June. The store will offer Esquires’ full menu of Fairtrade beverages and snacks, free Wi-Fi and comfortable seating across its two floors.

Ahead of this launch, Esquires will also be opening a mall café at the opposite end of the centre from which it will serve its premium products. This more compact, kiosk format will seat 26 and offer a full drinks menu.

Frenchgate centre manager Frank Whiting says: “These new catering offers will anchor the food hall and give the consumers more of a choice when they come shopping at Frenchgate. With footfall of over 330,000 per week it is very important for us to ensure that we listen to our customers and provide them with the range of retailers they desire.”

And on the centre’s roof one relatively simple change has transformed Frenchgate’s parking. Originally the centre had two car parks, one above the original centre and the other above the new extension. To add to the confusion one was pay & display while the other had a pay-on-foot system. The construction of a new concrete ramp has linked the two car parks and allowed them to operate under a unified pay-on-foot regime which is much more  attractive to shoppers.

In parallel to the physical changes, the new owners are looking afresh at the whole Frenchgate retail offer. “We’re also refocusing the tenant mix,” says Devlin. “For instance it took four separate deals to create the right space to get Poundland in, but we did it because we think they’re right for the centre.

“The scheme’s big enough to offer both the value retailer and an aspirational element,” he asserts.

And the letting progress has been impressive in a very difficult market. “13 months ago when we purchased the centre it had 32 voids,” Devlin says. “Now we’ve halved that.”

This has been achieved by bringing in national multiples like Poundland as well as by working with independents like the local interiors retailer Dazzle, which was persuaded to relocate within the centre to a larger and more prominent store.

Devlin says the owners’ long-term approach to the centre gives them the flexibility to offer a range of deals from yearly licenses to turnover leases to standard rack-rent terms. “Every deal is unique,” says. “We’re just looking at it as an income stream.”

Letting agent Lunson Mitchenall has been tasked with identifying tenants that will complement the existing tenant mix. And then the owners will do what it takes to create a deal. “We’re prepared to do some of the initial fit-out works for appropriate tenants,” says Devlin.

But it’s not all plain sailing. The loss of anchor tenant Woolworths, which occupied a 52,000-sq ft store on two levels with three separate frontages, was undoubtedly a blow. But Devlin points out that his agents were already looking at ways of helping the retailer downsize before it collapsed. “We can find seven or eight tenants to take chunks of that space,” he says optimistically.

“It’s significant that when we do have retailers going through pre-packs, the Frenchgate store is one that they always want to keep,” Devlin observes. “With prime rents around £135 zone A the overheads are relatively low.”