Gap Outlet and Holland & Barrett are the latest signings confirmed for the Lowry Outlet Mall in Salford Quays, Greater Manchester.

Leading fashion jeweller Karine & Co. has just opened at the 70-store centre in Craigavon with mobile phone giant O2 due to open in the next few weeks.

Across the country shopping centre owners, managers and agents are turning to increasingly innovative strategies to plug gaps in their tenancy line-ups

Rent reviews are facing extinction as new research shows that average commercial lease lengths fell to their lowest ever recorded levels this year, falling by more than 10 months to just five years in 2010.

Spur Steakhouse is set to open a 3, 911 sq ft unit and Metrocentre, Gateshead, in a bid to increase the catering offer at the centre.   

Luxury shoe retailer Kurt Geiger has announced plans to open a new store at Eldon Square, Newcastle, in September.

Emmerdale actor Lucy Pargeter, who plays Chastity Dingle in the soap, posed for photographs and signed autographs at the official opening of the new Poundland store at the Newkirkgate Centre, Leith, at the weekend.

Connah’s Quay shopping centre in Ffordd Llanarth, north Wales, has signed five new retailers.

Clas Ohlson is set to open stores in two shopping centres as part of its UK expansion programme.

TJX Europe has announced it will open its first ever dual-branded store, with TK Maxx and HomeSense sharing a unit at Metrocentre, Gateshead.

Research carried out by Cushman & Wakefield shows that the average availability of retail units across Great Britain’s top streets was 9.8 per cent at 1 August 2010, down from 11.1 per cent in May.

The music-oriented fashion retailer Pulp is to open at St David’s, Cardiff.

Customers at The Mall, Norwich, can now treat themselves to a unique experience, which involves live fish nibbling away dead skin from the feet, at the newly opened Dr Spa Fish.

Music-inspired fashion retailer, Pulp, is set to open a 2,000 sq ft store at Aberdeen’s Union Square shopping centre as part of its expansion programme.

Angels, the UK’s largest and longest-established fancy dress retailer, is to open a 2,370 sq ft pop-up store at Bluewater.

The Victoria in Southend has announced the opening of three new stores set to begin trading this month.

High-end fashion brand Lipsy has announced plans to open two stores in Scottish shopping centres.

The Trinity Walk development in Wakefield has signed retailers Republic, JD, Bank, Menkind and Coral in a new wave of brands taking space at the shopping centre.

Two new names are set to open for trade at The Quays in Newry in the next few weeks.

Adventure golf course, Jungle Rumble, has taken a 17,200-sq ft themed space to complement Liverpool On's leisure offer

Curry's has agreed to surrender its lease in the Bullring to make way for the new 50,000-sq ft Forever 21 store

Land Securities and Frogmore have agreed a 141,000-sq ft pre-letting with Primark at the eastern end of London’s Oxford Street.

Capital & Counties, the central London specialist recently demerged from Liberty International, has unveiled a strong set of results for its central London portfolio, dominated by its holdings in and around Covent Garden market.

The refurbished and extended centre continues to attract big name retailers with widespread unit upgrades and several new names for the town

Land Securities has secured two new tenants at Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth

A consortium led by CUSP has completed the £100m redevelopment of the K Village outlet mall in Kendal.

Two new tenants have signed at the Marble Place shopping centre in Southport.

Spanish fashion brand Desigual has chosen Liverpool One for its first store in the UK outside London

Four new retailers have leased stores at PruPIM`s Wellgate shopping centre in Dundee city centre, marking a significant upturn in letting activity at the 340,000-sq ft mall

ABERDEEN

Jones Lang LaSalle has secured three new lettings at Maltings shopping centre in St. Albans on behalf of the centre owners Boutlbee.

Branded fashion retailer USC is set to roll out its new store format at St.David's, Cardiff in October

The St Stephen’s Shopping Centre in Hull, which opened autumn 2007, is now fully let following three new additions

Lend Lease has reported a surge in lettings across its UK portfolio

Monsoon is opening a new store in the second phase of Morpeth’s Sanderson Arcade development

Five weeks before opening, five more names have been added to the tenant line up in the new K Village Outlet Shopping Centre in Kendal

Dragon's Kitchen and Costa join St David's catering line-up

British Land has completed a 43,000-sq ft triple deal with Smyths Toys as the Irish retailer expands in the North West.

LK Bennett, Phase Eight and L’Occitane are to open regional flagships at Meadowhall in Sheffield

Hollister is opening at Capital Shopping Centre’s Chapelfield shopping centre in Norwich.

The Land Securities-owned Bridges shopping centre has announced two more additions with Disney and Blue Inc taking stores.

British Land has let three stores at its Glasgow Fort Shopping Park to New Look, Poundland and Barrhead Retail.

Realm's Clarks Village outlet mall in Somerset is fully let after five new additions to its line-up of designer names.

B&M Bargains has taken one of the  largest retail units at Templars Square in Cowley, Oxford.

Fashion outlet Monsoon is the latest fashion brand to sign at the St David’s Shopping Centre in the heart of Cardiff.

Irish Life Assurance, has secured two lettings at its Nicholson Centre in Maidenhead to Poundworld and Phones 4U.

Boots is relocating from its current location on Southend’s high street, to a new 5,500-sq ft store in the Victoria Shopping Centre

CBRE Investors has combined three existing shops in its Forum Shopping Centre in Stevenage to create a new 16,000-sq ft unit for Next.

Shopping centre rents in the UK are the highest in Europe, According to new research from Jones Lang LaSalle

Rent reviews are still the biggest stumbling block to better landlord-tenant relations, a recent BPF conference found

Lettings for June 2010

UK Commercial Property Trust and Shearer Property Group have exchanged contracts with River Island for new 9,500-sq ft flagship store as part of their 80,000-sq ft development at The Parade shopping centre in Swindon.

Land Securities signed fashion brand Yumi for two outlet stores at the galleria in Hatfield and Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth.

Fashion retail group Arcadia has taken 20,000 sq ft on a ten-year lease in the new 500,000-sq ft Trinity Walk shopping centre in Wakefield.

Fashion retailer Primark has taken the 47,500-sq ft former Woolworths store at Cwmbran, South Wales.

Centros has signed up Carluccio’s for a 6,000-sq ft double unit at its arc development in Bury St Edmunds. The deal means the centre is now 95 per cent let.

Japanese fashion retailer Uniqlo has exchanged contracts on a new 12,700-sq ft flagship store at Bluewater.

US fast fashion brand Forever 21 has confirmed it is to make its UK debut at the Bullring, Birmingham

Lambert Smith Hampton has secured new owners for the Leicester and Sheffield stores of the collapsed music chain Reverb, just six months after its demise.

WH Smith has become the first retailer to sign up for a unit at MediaCityUK, Peel’s new studio facility in Manchester.

Two top high street brands are to open their latest retail outlets at Cameron Toll, Edinburgh’s first out of town shopping centre. Value fashion retailer Peacocks has taken 6,000 sq ft while Costa, will open in 1,538 sq ft plus mall seating.

Multi Development and Aviva Investors have signed four new  restaurant brands at SouthGate Bath. Jimmy Spices, PizzaExpress, Caffe Nero, and Cake Café are all due to open over the coming months.

TCS Holdings has let seven units in the Merrion Centre, Leeds, bringing in new brands including Internacionale and Cardzone.

Prime retail rents in the world’s leading shopping destinations stabilised in the majority of markets, and grew in a number of major cities, in the first quarter of 2010, according to CB Richard Ellis.

Henderson Global Investors’ £1bn Retail Warehouse Fund has completed seven lettings across its portfolio.

This month's market movements

Land Securities’One New Change, the City of London’s new retail destination, is now 90 per cent pre-let or in solicitors’ hands ahead of its opening in the Autumn.

SouthGate Bath, Multi Development and Aviva's new shopping destination in the city, is now 75 per cent let following deals with Urban Outfitters, Topshop/Topman, Currys PC World, River Island, and Fat Face.

Land Securities has let two units in its £40m Willow Place shopping centre in Corby, Northamptonshire, to H&M and Burger King.

John Lewis is to open its third standalone homewares store on Invista Real Estate’s Mannington Retail Park in Swindon, to be followed by a fourth in Tunbridge Wells.

Republic is to open a new store at St David’s, Cardiff. The fashion chain’s trading success from its existing St David’s shop, has led to it upsizing into a new double-fronted 12,500-sq ft store.

The Rock in Bury, Hammerson’s 640,000-sq ft development, has signed Manchester’s first standalone Cult store, leaving the scheme over 75 per cent let.

Six months after opening its doors, White River Place can announce that it is adding to its line-up with a 26,000-sq ft TK Maxx store, which is due to open this summer.

The second phase of Southside Shopping Centre in Wandsworth is commencing with the announcement of a new 30,000-sq ft TK Maxx anchor store taken on a 15-year lease.

Westfield Stratford City, the £1.45bn gateway to London’s Olympic Park, is now 60 per cent leased or committed with around 18 months to go before its 2011 opening.

Over 32,000 sq ft of retail space has been signed up by retailers at The Rock in Bury. The new signings take the retail and leisure scheme to over three quarters let by space (exchanged and in solicitors’ hands) ahead of the launch on 16 July.

US electronics giant Best Buy has continued its assault on the UK market with a new acquisition at Cribbs Causeway in Bristol

Restaurant chain Nando's has opened its first Glasgow outlet at St Enoch Centre as part of ongoing plans to create a new civic space in the city.

Land Securities' two premier outlet malls, Gunwharf Quays and The Galleria, have attracted several new tenants in the last month.

An Irish cafe chain has signed a deal with The Outlet at Bridgewater Park, Banbridge to open its largest ever cafe at over 2,000 sq ft.

A trio of new retailers, led by Austrian crystal company Swarovski, have taken 10-year leases at Aberdeen's Bon Accord Centre. The new additions follow a string of brands that have moved into the centre after last year's refurbishment.

Jewellery wholesaler Pandora will open it's first standalone shop in Wales at St David's, Cardiff this summer.

ING Real Estate Investment Management has acquired Cathedral Retail Park in Norwich from CBRE Investors for £17.3m, reflecting a net initial yield of 5.75 per cent.

Cavern Walks shopping centre in Liverpool has been using its boutique status to attract a string of new designers, leaving only one vacancy remaining.

The Cannock Shopping Centre in Staffordshire has seen a string of lettings since GVA Grimley was appointed as LPA receiver and agent for the scheme at the beginning of the year.

Womenswear retailer East has taken the final unit at Dransfield’s Sanderson Arcade development in Morpeth as work is about to begin on the next phase.

UBS Global Asset Management has let the former Zavvi unit at Pavilions Shopping Centre in Birmingham to H&M

Almost 20 per cent of the current peak rents among retail and leisure parks were set by occupiers that went into administration between 2002 and 2010, according to Trevor Wood Associates' Definitive Guide to Retail & Leisure Parks 2010.

Gaelic Investments has unveiled plans to revitalise the troubled Crossways shopping centre in Paignton, Devon.

Shepherd Chartered Surveyors has sold a 0.5 acre site at Westway Retail Park in Arbroath to KFC. Westway Retail Park is located in a prominent position to the west of Arbroath town centre with a frontage to the main thoroughfare which provides access to and from the town. This links directly to the Arbroath/Dundee dual carriageway.

Invista Real Estate and Simons Developments have secured four more tenants for their St Catherine’s Walk shopping centre in Carmarthen, which is due to open on 30 April 2010.

Westfield has completed the dining offer at Westfield London with a string of new restaurant lettings following the launch of the centre’s Vue cinema.

Scotland's first Hollister store prompted one of Union Square's busiest shopping weekends on record, with footfall up 10,000 on the Christmas shopping weekend.

American restaurant chain Ruby Tuesday has chosen St David’s Shopping Centre in Cardiff for its first outlet in the UK and in Western Europe as a whole.

Another 81 stores are closing at clothing retailer Ethel Austin and sister company Au Naturale over the next month, with a total job loss of almost 700.

Colliers CRE’s third national retail barometer research report, which uses void rates as a key indicator, reveals there is a big and growing divergence in vacancy rates between prime and secondary shopping areas across the 15 centres in its sample.

Sales at Bluewater are up by almost double that of the UK as a whole, thanks to soaring trade during half term and weekends.

Average retail property rents declined just over 8 per cent in 2009 according to Cushman & Wakefield. But the agent is forecasting no further falls for 2010.

Prupim has thrown down the gauntlet to its rivals by allowing its retail tenants to pay rent monthly for another year

Four months after opening, Phase One of SouthGate Bath is now over 85 per cent let. Apple, O2, Game and Tommy Hilfiger are the latest retail names to sign up and all will have stores open and trading by the end of March.

thecentre:mk, Milton Keynes' regional shopping centre, has topped off a string of prominant signings by filling its new restaurant quarter: Destination Dining.

St Andrew’s Way, the new 400,000-sq ft extension at Eldon Square, was unveiled on 16 February in the heart of Newcastle city centre. The £170 million, five-year redevelopment has increase the centre to 1.3m sq ft, making it one of the largest retail destinations in the UK.

London & Stamford Property has secured Best Buy - the US consumer electronics giant which plans to enter the UK in a joint venture with Carphone Warehouse - as a new tenant at its Racecourse retail park in Aintree near Liverpool.

According to the research, unveiled at the British Property Federation Retail Summit, some town centres have one in five shops standing empty. And Kent, the Midlands and the North East are the hardest-hit regions of the UK.

Paramount among the issues under discussion was the continuing level of retailer failures and the rising tide of empty shops they leave in their wake, particularly after the Ethel Austin and Adams announcements.

Average retail property rents declined just over 8 per cent in 2009 according to Cushman & Wakefield. But the agent is forecasting no further falls for 2010.

Cross-border shoppers and a string of new lettings boosted Christmas trade at Multi Development and CRI's Victoria Square in Belfast.

Garden Park Investments' £25m Peterborough Garden Park opened with 85 per cent of the scheme's retail accommodation pre-let.

Capital Shopping Centres and Newcastle City Council today unveil St Andrew’s Way, the new 400,000-sq ft extension to Eldon Square in Newcastle. The new mall is fully let and takes Eldon Square to 1.3 million sq ft making it the largest city centre scheme in the UK.

Further evidence of the upturn in the out-of-town retail market has emerged with a string of lettings at Land Securities' parks across the country.

Shaftesbury and the Mercers’ Company have kickstarted the marketing of the 67,000-sq ft St Martin's Courtyard scheme in London’s Covent Garden with a pre-letting to Jack Wills.

Retail occupancy levels are continuing to decline, although the rate of closures has slowed, according to new research from the Local Data Company.

John Lewis is to open its second new format shop, John Lewis at home, in Croydon, south London. The 'at home' format focuses exclusively on the home sector, including electrical and home technology.

Carluccio’s has chosen St David’s, Cardiff, as the location for its first restaurant in Wales.

Food operator Nandos has chosen the recently extended St Enoch Centre to open its first Glasgow-based restaurant. Fashion retailer Xile and designer jeweller Ortak are also taking units at the 765,000-sq ft scheme.