Recently released sales figures for 2006 underline how the centre has bedded in. Overall sales were up 6 per cent on 2005 and footfall reached 17.2 million. General manager Andrew Parkinson was particularly pleased with the all-important Christmas period, when sales were up 11 per cent year-on-year.

Clearly it helps having John Lewis as an anchor tenant, because the store group was the star performer in a somewhat lacklustre retail firmament. But Parkinson claims it was an all-round performance: "Although there were some retailers nationally that struggled throughout the year, Christmas proved to be more robust across Solihull and the West Midlands than a lot of people had predicted."

Parkinson says voids in the centre are running at just 2 per cent, against 4 per cent nationally and seven new arrivals in 2006 - Hobbs, River Island, Vom Fass, Lovejuice, Pumpkin Patch, Wagamama and 3 Store - have helped freshen up the retail offer.

Touchwood was one of the first developments to offer double-height shop units, allowing retailers to fit internal mezzanines and make a bold statement with the lofty shop fronts.

Many succumbed to the temptation to maximise trading space by going for a full-cover mezzanine, but River Island's new shopfit is causing some to reconsider. The fashion retailer has set its mezzanine back about a third of the way down the shop unit, creating a large atrium space at the front of the store with a feature staircase.

And Touchwood was also one of the first new developments to fully integrate leisure from the outset. The nine-screen multiplex is now the only cinema in the borough and the range of bars and restaurants trade until 3am on Fridays and Saturdays, with access through the centre from the High Street kept open long after the shops have closed. "We've become part of Solihull's evening economy," Parkinson says.

Parkinson is equally proud of the effect Touchwood has had on the rest of Solihull. A number of aspirational retailers like Hotel Chocolat, Kew and Space NK have located in the pedestrianised High Street outside the centre. And Mell Square, an older open-air centre is still well-let to a range of mainstream multiples.

The opening of the Bullring in Birmingham barely caused a blip in Touchwood's growth curve. "We have kept a consciously different retail offer from Birmingham," says Parkinson. Easy access from the M42 and ample car parking have kept shoppers loyal.

Now landlord Lend Lease - which manages the centre on behalf of the Lend Lease Retail Partnership - is looking at ways of taking the centre forward. There is one opportunity to do something creative with Library Square, a slightly bleak open-air courtyard beside the centre's leisure area. Certainly Parkinson and his team won't be resting on their laurels.

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