McArthurGlen Group has stepped up its European expansion with the opening of its fourth Italian scheme and the launch of a new project in Berlin. In a recession-busting move the company plans to add a further 300,000 sq m of GLA to its European portfolio, which currently stands at 400,000 sq m, by the end of 2012.

The Fort Shopping Park in Birmingham has just completed a £2.4m project to create a new food court.

The global banking crisis has forced British Land and Land Securities into boardroom reshuffles.

Chester Properties, on behalf of UBS Triton Property Fund, has secured Gap Outlet to anchor the £11m extension to its Springfields Outlet Centre in Spalding. The US fashion brand has taken a 10-year lease on a 6,500 sq ft store at the centre which will total 155,000 sq ft when fully open.

A joint venture between Invista's Clerical Medical fund and Spelthorne Borough Council has submitted a planning application for the latest phase of re-development of the Elmsleigh shopping centre in Staines town centre.

When Westfield London opens on October 30 it will feature around 50 different eating and drinking operators compared with approximately 270 retailers, highlighting a strong emphasis on the leisure component of its new London facility.

This Autumn's spate of shopping centre openings has continued unabated with the completion of Cabot Circus and Liverpool One, between them adding almost two million sq ft to the stock of shopping centre floorspace.

The property industry could not have chosen a less auspicious time to deliver the biggest surge in shopping centre openings the UK has ever seen. At a time when the financial services industry is in meltdown and the wider economy is on the brink of recession, three schemes of more than a million sq ft are opening, along with a host of smaller schemes.

Lancaster City Council has resolved to grant planning consent for Centros’s £150m mixed-use regeneration scheme for Lancaster’s city centre. The decision in favour of Centros’s outline plans for the 10-acre site follows three years of master-planning and consultation.

Centros’s new scheme in Bury St Edmunds – ‘arc’ – is continuing to attract retailers with Paperchase signing up this week for a 2,386-sq ft unit. And footwear retailer, Clarks, also joined the line-up securing a 2,084-sq ft unit looking onto the new public square.

Metro Shopping Fund, a joint venture between Delancey and Land Securities, has submitted its planning application for the redevelopment of Clapham Junction station in south-west London.

Grosvenor celebrated today's opening of phase two of Liverpool One by HRH The Princess Royal with the announcement of nine new lettings totalling nearly 100,000 sq ft of space, bringing Liverpool One to 92 per cent let.

The Bristol Alliance has completed Cabot Circus, Bristol’s long-awaited shopping and leisure destination, and the million-sq ft scheme was over 90 per cent let on opening day..

Turnstone Estates and RevCap have submitted a detailed planning application to Ipswich Borough Council, for a £50m retail –led scheme on the site of the former Civic Centre in Ipswich.

Arcadia brands Topshop, Topman, Wallis, Dorothy Perkins and Burton are the latest big name retailers to sign up to Eagles Meadow, Wilson Bowden Developments' new £100m shopping and leisure destination in Wrexham which will open at the end of October. The project is now 85 per cent let.

Two of the world's biggest shopping centre owners are building stakes in Liberty International, parent company of Capital Shopping Centres, and City observers believe Westfield and Simon Property Group could be jockeying for position ahead of a bid for the UK's number one owner of regional malls.

F&C Property has sold the Lion Walk shopping centre in Colchester, Essex to LaSalle Investment Management for £69m

Warner Estate and Aylesbury Vale District Council have signed the formal development agreement for the mixed-use Waterside Shopping regeneration project in Aylesbury town centre.

Modus opened its newly-extended Houndshill shopping centre in Blackpool last month, tripling the size of the existing scheme to 398,000 sq ft.

A Wear, Ireland's top female fashion brand, has opened its first UK standalone store at Highcross Leicester, and it has already signed two more deals as part of a UK-wide acquisitions programme.

Joe O'Reilly's Chartered Land has lodged a planning application with Fingal County Council to expand its Swords Pavilions shopping centre. The E1bn investment will add over 100 small and large retail units, two flagship department stores for Marks & Spencer and House of Fraser, almost 200 residential units and four blocks of office space with associated car parking to the existing centre.

Arcadia Group has confirmed it is to open two double-store units at The Elements in Livingston, housing retailers Topshop, Topman, Dorothy Perkins and Burton. The Elements - Land Securities' new £130m shopping centre - will open its doors on 16 October this year.

In a contra-cyclical move Standard Life Investments and Shearer Property Group are to start construction this autumn on their £130m Parkway development in Newbury, Berkshire.

BCSC has updated its research on the importance of the retail property sector in the UK economy. The report highlights the shift in the nature of shopping places away from the out-of-town model towards town centre developments.

September is proving to be a busy month for Hammerson. The developer, in partnership with Land Securities, is gearing up for the opening of Cabot Circus in Bristol on September 25, while only last week, in partnership with Hermes, it launched the long-awaited Highcross Leicester.

Thousands of shoppers flocked to the highly-anticipated launch of Highcross Leicester last week when Hammerson and Hermes opened the 320,000-sq ft extension to the existing city centre scheme.

F&C Property has sold the Lion Walk shopping centre in Colchester, Essex to LaSalle Investment Management for £69m

Warner Estate and Aylesbury Vale District Council have signed the formal development agreement for the mixed use Waterside Shopping regeneration project in Aylesbury town centre.

In the biggest investment deal of the year so far Henderson Global Investors has paid £365m for three outlet malls: Cheshire Oaks near Liverpool, the Bridgend Designer Outlet in Wales and the Swindon Designer Outlet in Wiltshire. The deal shows an initial yield of just over 7 per cent.

The Tin Hat Regeneration Partnership, comprising Wilson Bowden Developments, Ashcroft Estates and Centenary Asset Management, has been selected to deliver the £75m redevelopment of the bus station site in Hinckley, Leicestershire.

Westfield has reached the psychologically important 50 per cent barrier in its leasing campaign for its £320m Bradford scheme. Retailers already committed to the scheme include Debenhams, Marks & Spencer, Next, River Island, Topshop/Topman, Miss Selfridge, Evans, Burton, Wallis, Dorothy Perkins and Beaverbrooks.

Grosvenor has signed five more retailers at Liverpool One. Mango has taken a 3,454 sq ft unit on the lower level of South John Street, where it will trade alongside menswear brand Blue Inc in 3,831 sq ft and homewares retailer Lakeland, which has taken a 7,313 sq ft two-level unit on the upper level.

Capital Shopping Centres has completed the remodelling and extension of the southern end of The Glades, Bromley. The development brings an additional 50,600 sq ft of prime retail to the centre, consisting of a 30,000 sq ft MSU, let to H&M , and five other units of between 500 and 4,500 sq ft.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson has honoured a key election pledge to support London's small businesses by outlining measures to ensure that more affordable small shops are provided for in new retail developments.

With hard-pressed retailers demanding large incentives to take new stores, centre owners are increasingly looking to leisure operators to generate rental growth, and new research from Savills shows that catering demand is holding up well.

For the first time a UK court has recognised the value of shopping centre brands after a landmark case brought by Land Securities, Capital Shopping Centres and Hammerson.

Liverpool One is the most exciting urban regeneration project currently under way in Europe, so it's not at all surprising that Joanne Jennings was lured across the water from her role as chief executive of Belfast's City Centre Management Company to take on the job of chief executive at the new development.

In many ways Bristol is one of the UK's most successful cities - it's long been a popular destination for business relocations and it always scores high in quality of life surveys. But ever since the Second World War, when the old retail heart was destroyed, it's been let down by its shopping facilities. Although it's the UK's eighth-largest city, Bristol is only ranked 20th as a retail destination.

It's a hub of activity in Cardiff, Newport and Bristol at the moment with a number of retail schemes currently at various stages of development.

In a contra-cyclical move Standard Life Investments and Shearer Property Group are to start construction this autumn on their £130m Parkway development in Newbury, Berkshire.

In a bid to improve the effectiveness of town centre policy, the Government has this month set out proposed revisions to Planning Policy Statement 6: 'Planning for Town Centres' (2005).

Most people in retail property are desperately trying to find ways of describing the current economic climate without using the 'R' word. But McArthurGlen chief executive Julia Calabrese is happy to face it head-on: "We like to feel we're recession proof," she says.

The current economic downturn is having a huge negative impact on retailers and retail property owners at present, and with so many new developments launching this year, the timing of the 'credit crunch' could not have been worse.

ING Retail Property Fund Britannica has signed three tenants at its Town Square and Spindles Shopping Centre in Oldham following the opening of H&M in March 2008 in the redeveloped Rotunda area. Cinnzeo and Alpha News have opened in Spindles and in Town Square ING Britannica has secured Poundworld in a significant unit.

Bristol Alliance partners Land Securities and Hammerson have secured two more catering users - Piccolino and Chandos Deli – for Quakers Friars, the aspirational retail and restaurant element of their Cabot Circus development.

Pizza Express and Frankie & Benny’s will join leisure anchor tenants Odeon and Tenpin at Wilson Bowden Developments 400,000-sq ft Eagles Meadow retail and leisure scheme in Wrexham ahead of its opening in October.

Hercules Unit Trust, British Land’s specialist retail warehouse fund has sold its Colne Valley retail park in Watford to Igal Ahouvi for £45.075m reflecting a net initial yield of 6.59 per cent

Orchard Street Investment Management has secured five new tenants for its 125,000-sq ft outlet centre on the M74 at Gretna, in the Scottish Borders.

The John Lewis Partnership has signed a pre-letting on a 275,000-sq ft store at the 1.5m-sq ft Eastgate Quarters scheme in Leeds city centre. The store will be one of three anchors in the centre, which is being developed by the Leeds Partnership, a joint venture between Hammerson and Town Centre Securities. Marks & Spencer has already signed up for a 196,000-sq ft store.

British Land has exchanged contracts with the private Irish investor Moyallen to sell its Peacocks shopping centre in Woking for £116m, reflecting a net initial yield of 5.75 per cent.

Shoppers are finally able to enjoy Europe's biggest city centre regeneration project after Grosvenor opened the first and biggest phase of its Liverpool One project at the end of May.

Knight Frank has substantially strengthened its retail exposure with the acquisition of specialist retail agency Markham Vaughan Gillingham.

Land Securities and Hammerson's Bristol Alliance has secured another 11 retailers at Cabot Circus, the one million sq ft retail and leisure destination set to open in Bristol in September 2008.

Plans for a £46m mixed-use scheme on the site of the former Outokumpu steelworks site in Stocksbridge, have been submitted to Sheffield City Council.

The Trafford Centre's new homewares-focussed extension, Barton Square, has signed a range of new brands including Marks & Spencer Home; the first HomeSense store in the north, a tri-branded Moben Sharps and Dolphin store, the first Natuzzi store in the north-west and a new branch for Laura Ashley. They join existing occupiers Dwell, Next Home, Bhs, and Habitat.

Hamleys is to open its first Irish store at Dundrum, Dublin. And Bose and Gerry Weber have also signed up for stores.

More than 1.25 million sq m of shopping centre space is due to open in the UK between now and the end of 2009 - equivalent in size to over eight Bluewaters - according to the new European Shopping Centre Development report from global real estate adviser Cushman & Wakefield.

The opening of Grosvenor's Liverpool One project has finally begun, with the completion of a million sq ft of retail in the heart of the city. At the end of May the centre's John Lewis and Debenhams stores opened, as did Paradise Street and South John Street, which connect them.

Developers are putting more shopping centre schemes on ice as the lack of funding and declining occupier demand undermine the viability of new centres, according to Colliers CRE’s annual Midsummer Retail Report.

Liverpool City Council has approved Land Securities' plans for the redevelopment of the St John’s Centre, Liverpool’s largest covered shopping centre originally built by the developer in 1969. The centre will now undergo a substantial refurbishment and extension which will increase its overall size from 360,000 to 480,000 sq ft.

Development Securities has bought the Atlantic Village outlet mall in Bideford, North Devon for £20m at an initial yield of 7 per cent. The scheme had been part of the REALM portfolio, and a conversion to a full-price format now looks on the cards.

Land Securities and Hammerson’s Bristol Alliance has secured another eleven retailers at Cabot Circus, the one million sq ft retail and leisure destination set to open in Bristol city centre in September this year.

Plans for a £46m mixed-use development on the site of the former Outokumpu steelworks site in Stocksbridge have been submitted to Sheffield City Council.

Shoppers were finally able to enjoy Europe’s biggest city centre regeneration project yesterday as Grosvenor opened the first and biggest phase of its Liverpool One project.

Westfield and Commerz Real have signed two more brands for the premium ‘Village’ area of the million-sq ft Westfield London scheme. Tiffany and Mulberry have taken stores, joining Louis Vuitton in the centre’s luxury district.

The Trafford Centre’s new homewares-focussed extension, Barton Square, has signed a range of new brands including Marks & Spencer Home; the first HomeSense store in the North, a tri-branded Moben Sharps and Dolphin store, the first Natuzzi store in the North-West and a new branch for Laura Ashley. They join existing occupiers Dwell, Next Home, British HOME Stores, and Habitat.

Dwell is to open its tenth UK store this Autumn with an 8,000 sq ft showroom at Cabot Circus, Bristol. The contemporary furniture and home accessories retailer is one of the latest latest signings at Glass Walk, the scheme’s focus for lifestyle shopping, alongside Starbucks, which has taken a 3,200-sq ft unit overlooking Broadmead, and Explore Learning, which has taken a 1,100 sq ft-unit. The three newcomers join Sony, and children’s toy retailer The Entertainer, which have already committed to the scheme.

Wonderbra, Past Times and Jeff Banks have signed to the Galleria – Land Securities’ 320,000-sq ft mixed-use outlet, restaurant and leisure destination in Hatfield. The deals mean 18 new units have signed at the scheme in the past year and other new arrivals include Nike, DSL selling Diesel, Calvin Klein Underwear, Gant and Le Creuset.

The Queensgate Revival project to transform a major part of Huddersfield town centre with a retail led, mixed-use scheme has taken a significant step forward with the submission of a planning application to Kirklees Council.

Thornfield Properties has started work on the 1.6m-sq ft regeneration of Bury town centre after securing a major new funding package with Bank of Scotland Corporate. The £300m deal means that the retail-led, mixed-use development, branded ‘The Rock’, is on target to open in 2010. CACI predicts it will catapult Bury up more than 100 places to 65th place in its UK town centre rankings.

Grosvenor has agreed deals with Ghost, Dune and L'Occitane five weeks ahead of the phase one launch of Liverpool One on May 29.

After a successful first two months of trading, six new stores are now open for business at Eden, High Wycombe. The new 850,000-sq ft centre opened its doors in March and has already attracted 350,000 visitors per week.

Land Securities' and Capital Shopping Centres' St David's Partnership has signed seven fashion retailers, all of which will be opening their first store in Wales when the 967,500-sq ft scheme opens next year.

Hermes Real Estate has sold the 114,542 sq ft Exeter Retail Park to CIT for £42.05m. The deal reflects a net initial yield of 6.19 per cent with five rent reviews currently outstanding.

After a successful first two months of trading, six new stores are now open for business at Eden, High Wycombe. The new 850,000 sq ft centre opened its doors in March and has already attracted 350,000 visitors per week.

Capital & Regional has moved to halt an alarming slump in its share price. On Thursday the shares lost 15 per cent of their value on rumours that the company’s Mall fund was in breach of its loan-to-value covenants. But in early trading on Friday the share price rallied slightly after a firm denial from the company.

Goodman Property Investors has sold Apsley Mills Retail Park in Hemel Hempstead to clients of Invesco Real Estate for £29.32m, reflecting an initial yield of approximately 6.25 per cent. The vendor stands to gain a further top up payment on completion of the outstanding rent review on the Homebase unit.

Invista Foundation Property has signed four new tenants at Victoria Plaza on Oxford Street, Bolton.

Grosvenor has agreed deals with Ghost, Dune and L’Occitane five weeks ahead of the phase one launch of Liverpool One on May 29.

Land Securities’ and Capital Shopping Centres’ St David’s Partnership has signed seven fashion retailers, all of which will be opening their first store in Wales when the 967,500-sq ft scheme opens next year.

Outline planning consent has been granted to St Modwen for the £13m redevelopment of the Fford Llanarth Neighbourhood Centre in Connah’s Quay, Flintshire.

Joe O’Reilly’s Chartered Land has lodged the planning application for its 1.7 million-sq ft Dublin Central project, linking Henry Street and O'Connell Street in Dublin’s Northside.

Hammerson has confirmed that Highcross, the £350m shopping and leisure destination being developed in partnership with Hermes in Leicester will open to the public on 4 September 2008.

Modus has announced that the new Houndshill shopping centre in Blackpool will open its doors on 21 August 2008. And the formal launch will take place on September 6.

Shopping Centre has teamed up with retail destination marketing company Fox Kalomaski to update its survey of professionals' attitudes within the shopping centre industry, last carried out in 2006.

Land Securities has submitted a planning application for 'Evolution Corby', the second phase of its development in Corby town centre. Willow Place, the £35m first phase, opened in October last year.

The picture on page 2 of the March edition of Shopping Centre showed Modus's Trinity Walk shopping centre in Wakefield, and not Multi's SouthGate in Bath as captioned.

After a flurry of successful shopping centre openings this spring, the engines are now revving up for the completion of numerous schemes in the UK before the end of the year.

Land Securities’ Princesshay in Exeter won the award for the best medium-sized new development at the ICSC European conference in Amsterdam last night.

Land Securities' and Hammerson's Bristol Alliance has secured another eight retailers to open stores at the million-sq ft Cabot Circus in Bristol, taking the scheme to 85 per cent let ahead of its Autumn opening.

Thornfield Properties has started on site at the Pavilion Shopping Centre in Thornaby Town Centre, Stockon-on-Tees. The 270,000-sq ft refurbishment and new build scheme, anchored by a 100,000-sq ft Asda, will elevate Thornaby into the top 25 centres in the North East.

Thornfield Properties has started on site at the Pavilion Shopping Centre in Thornaby Town Centre, Stockon-on-Tees. The 270,000-sq ft refurbishment and new build scheme, anchored by a 100,000-sq ft Asda, will elevate Thornaby into the top 25 centres in the North East.

Debenhams has agreed heads of terms to become the anchor tenant at the proposed 70,000 sq ft retail development at Springfield East in Elgin, Morayshire. The new development by Elphinstone, in association with Property Investment Partnerships, is expected to receive final planning permission in June 2008, with trading commencing in Spring 2009.

Four more fashion brands are to make their trading debut in Leicester this Autumn. Ghost, G-Star, Henleys and Lacoste are the latest fashion retailers to sign up to Highcross, the £350 m shopping and leisure destination being developed by Hammerson and Hermes.

Land Securities has signed Primark to complete the anchor store line-up at Willow Place, the 175,000-sq ft scheme in Corby town centre which opened in October last year. Primark is to open a 48,000 sq ft store within the £35m retail scheme in September.

Capital & Regional chief executive Martin Barber has stepped down from the company he co-founded 30 years ago. Amid rumours of a boardroom rift after the share price slumped 70 per cent in just under a year, the company has brought in Hugh Scott-Barrett as Barber's replacement.

German fashion and lifestyle brand Gerry Weber has become the latest retailer to sign up for Grosvenor and USS's 450,000-sq ft Grand Arcade development in Cambridge ahead of its opening on March 27.

Multi Development has let two of the MSUs at its £360m SouthGate development in Bath to Swedish fashion giant Hennes & Mauritz and Boots. The 400,000-sq ft regeneration scheme is being developed jointly with Morley.

The retailer line-up for the Eagles Meadow shopping centre in Wrexham has been boosted with five new signings. Wilson Bowden Developments' 400,000-sq ft shopping and leisure scheme is now 75 per cent let ahead of its October 2008 opening.

Land Securities has submitted a planning application for the £100m redevelopment of the St John's Centre, Liverpool's largest covered shopping centre. The proposed extension will increase its overall size from 360,000 to 480,000 sq ft.

Westfield has signed six retailers from the Arcadia Group for its £340m Bradford development. Topshop/Topman, Evans, Dorothy Perkins, Burton, Wallis and Miss Selfridge will take 43,341 sq ft in the new centre which is being anchored by Debenhams and Marks & Spencer.

Wakefield Metropolitan District Council has given the go ahead for a 100,000- sq ft extension to the Moorfield Group's Ridings shopping centre. The three-storey scheme will extend the mall onto a site between Rodney Yard and the existing service yard entrance.

Multi Development launched its first UK retail-led mixed-use scheme this month when it opened the long-awaited for Victoria Square in Belfast on March 6.

Land Securities has taken a step closer to break-up with the appointment of three non-executive directors who will chair the retail, office and outsourcing businesses and pilot them through demerger.

Modus has announced that the new Houndshill Shopping Centre in Blackpool will open its doors on Thursday 21 August 2008. And the formal launch will take place on Saturday 6 September.

Capital Shopping Centres has secured five new lettings at Lakeside, Thurrock, refreshing the fashion offer and completing the letting programmme in the Boardwalk catering area.

The introduction of empty property rates on Tuesday 1 April will drive down commercial property values, disincentivise development and reduce the availability of property in the marketplace, according to a new survey conducted by Lambert Smith Hampton.

ING Real Estate has completed its £120m extension at County Square Shopping Centre in Ashford, Kent. The development has doubled the size of the centre’s existing space to create a 435,000-sq ft shopping destination. It brings the total number of units at the centre to over 50 and will also include a 620 space multi-storey car park.

Five new retailers signed up at the 450,000-sq ft Cambridge Grand Arcade as the centre opened its doors to the public this week, taking the scheme over the 90 per cent-let threshold.

Eden, the 850,000-sq ft shopping centre in High Wycombe which opened on Thursday 13th March is on target to welcome its millionth visitor by the end of the month. Over the first four days of trading alone, 350,000 shoppers visited Eden.

The East of England Co-operative Society has bought the Triangle shopping centre in Frinton-on-Sea, Essex.

The Park Place development in Croydon has received a further setback with news that developer Minerva has failed to meet a key condition of its part-sale of the site to Lend lease.

Weeks before opening, Errigal’s 45,000-sq ft Ravensthorpe Shopping Park in Ravensthorpe, Dewsbury is now 85 per cent pre-let following deals with Au Naturale, Home Bargain, In-Store, Greggs, Subway and Netto.

Grosvenor has signed another eight new brands, occupying a total of 60,000 sq ft, for its Liverpool One regeneration scheme, where more than a million sq ft of retail space will open to the public on May 29.

Richardsons Capital, the developer behind Merry Hill, Westwood Cross in Kent and the Printworks in Manchester, has formed a joint venture with Wilson Bowden Developments to bring forward the million-sq ft Ravenscraig development in Lanarkshire.

ING Real Estate has been selected to redevelop a substantial slice of Maidenhead town centre. The mixed-use project will link the existing retail core with the town’s railway station, providing up to 350,000 sq ft of new retail space as well as 1,250 parking spaces and 80,000 sq ft of offices.

Kirkstone Property Ventures - the property company set up by ex-Stannifer directors Paul Blyth and Gavin Munn - has made its first purchase, teaming up with JP Morgan Asset Management to buy the Old Market Centre in Taunton , Somerset. The centre was sold by Standard Life Investments for close to £50m, representing an equivalent yield of 6.35 per cent.

Land Securities has submitted a planning application for ‘Evolution Corby’, the second phase of its development in Corby town centre. Willow Place, the £35m first phase, opened in October last year.

Northern Ireland’s First Minister, Dr Ian Paisley, and Deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness, lead the opening ceremony of the long awaited Victoria Square retail led regeneration scheme in Belfast.

Shares in Liberty International, owner of Capital Shopping Centres, soared 6.63 per cent to 1005.5p in early trading on Wednesday amid press reports that the company is in merger talks with Westfield to create the world’s largest shopping centre group.

Wakefield Metropolitan District Council has given the go ahead for a 100,000-sq ft extension to the Moorfield Group’s Ridings shopping centre. The three-storey scheme will extend the mall onto a site between Rodney Yard and the existing service yard entrance off Southgate.

Land Securities has submitted a planning application for the £100m redevelopment of the St John’s Centre, Liverpool’s largest covered shopping centre. The proposed extension will increase its overall size from 360,000 to 480,000 sq ft

German fashion and lifestyle brand Gerry Weber has become the latest retailer to sign up for Grosvenor and USS’s 450,000-sq ft Grand Arcade development in Cambridge ahead of its opening on March 27.

Work has started on the redevelopment of Freeport Hornsea Outlet Shopping Village, the first outlet shopping village to open in the UK. On completion of the £6m three-phase redevelopment almost 50,000 sq ft will have been added or remodelled at the centre.

Henderson Global Investors has secured Debenhams as a new tenant at the Weavers Wharf Retail Park in Kidderminster, Worcestershire. Debenhams has signed a new 15-year lease on the Slingfield Mill building which is to be refurbished.

Westfield has signed six retailers from the Arcadia Group for its £340m Bradford development. Topshop/Topman, Evans, Dorothy Perkins, Burtons, Wallis and Miss Selfridge will take 43,341 sq ft in the new centre which is being anchored by Debenhams and Marks & Spencer.

The Leeds Partnership, a joint venture between Hammerson and Town Centre Securities, has chosen six architectural practices to deliver Eastgate Quarters, its 1.6 million-sq ft retail-led regeneration scheme in Leeds city centre.

Multi Development has let two of the MSUs at its £360m SouthGate development in Bath to Swedish fashion giant Hennes & Mauritz and Boots. The 400,000-sq ft regeneration scheme is being developed jointly with Morley.

Starbucks has stepped up its UK acquisition programme with a string of deals in the North East and East Anglia.

Two more units have been snapped up at the newly extended Priory Centre in Worksop. Body Shop has signed a ten-year lease on a 2,200-sq ft unit and household goods store BrightHouse has taken a 3,000-sq ft unit, again on a ten-year lease.

Cosgrave Property Group has acquired 50,000 sq ft of prime retail space at 1–10 and 44 - 52 Swan Walk, in Romford town centre in east London.

Capital Shopping Centres and Newcastle City Council’s £170m redevelopment of Eldon Square in Newcastle has reached a key stage with the completion of the second phase of work, Eldon Square North. The latest phase includes a new mall - St George’s Way - offering 48,000 sq ft of new retail space on the site of the centre’s former bus station.

Resolution Asset Management has sold the 116,851-sq ft Lancaster City Retail Park to Resolution Property Advisors for £26.9m, reflecting a net initial yield of 5.7 per cent.

The retailer line-up for the Eagles Meadow shopping centre in Wrexham has been boosted with five new signings. Wilson Bowden Developments' 400,000-sq ft shopping and leisure scheme is now 75 per cent let ahead of its October 2008 opening.

As the spring shopping centre opening season draws nearer, significant letting landmarks have been achieved on at least two of the new crop of malls. This spring will see major openings in Belfast, High Wycombe, Cambridge and Liverpool.

Multi Development has overcome the last major hurdle on its third UK project, the £300m Summer Row development in Wolverhampton, and work is expected to start on site within weeks.

Three major international brands have shrugged off doubts about the UK economy and decided to enter the market for the first time. The moves will be good news for developers looking to lease new malls.

Land Securities has sold the Coppergate shopping centre in York, plus an adjoining development site, to LaSalle Investment Management.