One of the first to identify the potential of the region was Warner Estate, which set up the Agora Fund in 2003 specifically to build up a portfolio of north-western shopping centres.

There are currently four schemes in the fund with a combined capital value of £237m: Fishergate in Preston; Market Place in Bolton; the Middleton shopping centre and Cavern Walks in Liverpool. Each of them is being significantly upgraded.

For instance in Preston, plans are afoot to take the Fishergate centre from 360,000 to 550,000 sq ft. The new extension will include a second anchor store for the mall, and will see the car parking increase from 728 to 1,000 spaces. But even ahead of this major investment, Agora has been busy improving the existing mall. Primark is opening a 40,000 sq ft store which will anchor Fishergate mall, and last year the centre was given a new entrance.

At Middleton, phase 1 of the centre's refurbishment and extension is just coming to an end. This included the creation of 45,000 sq ft of new retail space, and pre-lets have been agreed with Peacocks, Streetwise Sports and Home bargains. Wilkinsons has tripled the size of its store to 33,000 sq ft and Mark One has relocated to a bigger unit. At the same time the malls have been modernised and all the escalators replaced.

Consent has already been granted for a further phase which will add another 17,500 sq ft to the centre which currently totals 248,000 sq ft.

In Bolton, months of negotiations with the traders in the centre's market hall have paid off. The traders have agreed unanimously to surrender their leases, paving the way for a 100,000 sq ft two-level retail scheme within the shell of the listed Victorian market hall. The scheme will be integrated into the existing 320,000 sq ft centre.

And at the beginning of 2006, Agora's two centres in Birkenhead - the 143,000 sq ft Pyramids and the 470,000 sq ft Grange - were transferred into a new fund, Agora Max, which will focus on larger schemes. Already a number of initiatives are in place with a view to positioning the two as a single managed destination.

A £2.2m redevelopment of the food court is already under way, creating units for BBs Coffee & Muffins; Subway; Say Potato and Burger King. And consent has been granted to reconfigure and extend the existing WH Smith unit on Grange Road into two new fashion stores totalling 30,000 sq ft.

A recent decision by Debenhams to increase its presence in the region has been good news for two more north-western developments. The department store chain has signed up to anchor Modus's extension to the Houndshill centre in Blackpool and Centros Miller's scheme in Lancaster.

At Houndshill work is already underway to treble the current size of the centre - Blackpool's only covered mall - to 398,000 sq ft. Debenhams will take 100,000 sq ft and Next, Clarks and River Island will take a combined space of 50,000 sq ft.

Completion is due in Spring 2008, but ahead of that Modus is busy refurbishing the existing centre, where tenants include Primark Barratts, Claires Accessories, Superdrug, Starbucks, Dorothy Perkins, Faith Shoes and many more high-street stores.

Modus director Mike Riddell says: "Moving the Houndshill shopping centre more upmarket in terms of tenant mix and finish is very important to us, so is customer care and entertainment. Expect some new and interesting names to make the news shortly."

And in Lancaster Debenhams will anchor Centros' development on the 10-acre Canal Corridor North site.

Into the final stages of redevelopment at Golden Square

Lend Lease's £120m redevelopment of Warrington's Golden Square shopping centre is now entering its final stages, with completion scheduled for March 2007. But already there are tangible signs of progress on-site.

The upper level of the new car park is due to open this month and July will see completion of the town's new bus station, which will be integrated into the new centre in management terms.

The anchor store will be handed over to Debenhams for fit-out to begin in August, and the MSUs - including H&M, Topshop and Next - will follow in September. And according to development manager Rupert Wood the scheme is now 70 per cent pre-let. "We are confident that the improved Golden Square shopping centre, in combination with the shops that are signing up for lettings, such as Office, will transform Warrington into one of the top retail destinations in the country," he says.

To match the work being done to the extension, the developer has turned its attention to upgrading the existing shopping centre and refurbishment work is well under way within the centre. Works include replacing the existing roof and floors with the aim of integrating the existing space as closely as possible with the new.

This is already paying off in leasing terms, and recent additions to Golden Square's retail offer include Office, Fragrance Shop and Bank.

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