The first and the biggest opening this spring was Modus' £120m Grand Arcade in Wigan, which opened on March 22 - bang on schedule.

Just short of half a million sq ft, the new scheme comprises 48 units. In terms of floor space, the centre was 95 per cent let on the day of opening, and the tenant line-up includes a number of new retailers to the town. There are currently just four vacant units and it is anticipated they will be let by the end of May and ready for trading by the summer.

The scheme is anchored by Debenhams, and other major tenants include Bhs, Marks & Spencer, HMV, WH Smith, JD Sports, Next, River Island, Waterstones, H&M, Monsoon, JJB Sports, Clintons and TK Maxx.

The development also has a food mezzanine named Casino Cafe, which is themed on the Wigan Casino - the soul club which stood on the site of the centre until the early 80s. The food catering offer includes Costa Coffee, BB's Muffins and Le Petit Four.

Clare Andrew, marketing director at Modus, explains that the centre has been averaging 35,000 people a day in footfall since the day of opening. "We're hoping we will ensure people stay in Wigan to shop and cut the number of visits consumers make to the Trafford Centre," she explains.

General manager John Sanson adds: "We wanted to take Wigan up the retail hierarchy and get it into the top 100." As well as helping to find new tenants to take over existing leases, previously held by tenants who have relocated into the scheme from elsewhere in the town, Modus is also redeveloping the old Debenhams unit, which has already been let to Wilkinson and Caffe Nero, in phase 2.

"It's a responsibility to the town," Sanson adds. "We aren't saying that having built this we're going to turn our back on the town. To get into the top 100 will be proof that we have done our job; but not just us, it's other investment and developers in the town as well as the council."

Phase 3 will be the refurbishment of a listed building next to the car park, where Modus plans to put restaurant units, and another major phase will be the Tower Grand, which will include retail on the ground floor as well as offices and 153 high-quality apartments. It is expected the whole scheme will be complete by 2010.

Marshall's Yard, the £39m mixed-use scheme in Gainsborough, was opened to the public on April 6. Delivered by a joint partnership between Dransfield Properties and Prospect Estates, the once derelict eight acre site in the centre of Gainsborough - formerly occupied by the Marshall family's Britannia Iron Works - has been transformed into a mixed-use shopping park format with 225,000 sq ft of retail space, as well as office, leisure and public space and a 340-space car park.

There are currently only three voids in the 27-unit scheme, and there is at present interest in each of them. Retailers already signed to the scheme include Next, Marks & Spencer Simply Food, Halfords, JJB Health and Fitness, New Look, Costa Coffee, Allied Carpets, Wilkinson and Claire's Accessories.

The scheme is a significant step in the regeneration of Gainsborough and the wider West Lindsey district, and represents the single biggest investment the town has ever seen.

Lindsay Mclaren, PR manager for Dransfield, says: "The scheme has been designed to link the town centre and the new Tesco food store. They were severed before so it was important to create pedestrian links to attract people to visit Marshall's Yard.

"The town was predominantly a discount offer and it didn't have the right type of retail space."

Independent analysts predict that the new scheme will increase the catchment by 79 per cent and increase comparison goods expenditure in the town from £38.6m to £75.5m. Previously, it was estimated that £9 out of every £10 belonging to residents of the town was being spent elsewhere, with trade being lost to neighbouring towns Retford, Scunthorpe and Lincoln.

Marshall's Yard will ultimately see a reversal of this trend and attract new spending into the town. The scheme is predicted to move Gainsborough up 175 places in the national ranking of retail destinations.

Phase two of the scheme will deliver trade counter units, new housing and a long-stay car park on land currently occupied by Gainsborough Steels.

The Outlet at Bridgewater Park near Banbridge, Northern Ireland, also opened its doors ahead of schedule at the beginning of this month.

The £70m scheme, situated on the A1 between Belfast and Newry, is home to 80 retail units stretching a third of a mile. It has been jointly developed by GML Estates, its parent Orana Group and Land Securities.

The Outlet is the first phase of the 1.2 million-sq ft Bridgewater Park scheme. The second phase will include a 430,571-sq ft retail park, which already has planning permission, 2,000 more parking spaces to serve the retail park, a 60-bedroom hotel, drive thru restaurant and petrol filling station, driving investment value to over £200m. The 200,000-sq ft outlet opened on April 3, 70 per cent let, while an additional 10 per cent will be open by the end of May.

Joanne Skilton, commercial director of GML Estates, says: "We firmly believe that all of our retailers complement each other and that this highly coveted mix will help us achieve our goal of providing a unique retail experience for shoppers from the north and south of Ireland."

Meanwhile the opening of the newly-extended Golden Square in Warrington has been put back from an anticipated March opening to May 24.

The £120m extension of the Lend Lease scheme will double the size of the existing centre to 675,000 sq ft and will provide approximately 60 new large format shops. It has attracted top name retailers including a 115,000-sq ft Debenhams department store, H&M, Next, Boots, Topshop/Topman, Republic, Bank, Sports World, Oasis, Jane Norman, Pumpkin Patch and La Senza.

General manager David Allinson says: "The extension concentrates on the fashion brands that are not on offer elsewhere in the town. A few retailers are moving from within the existing scheme, such as River Island, but not many. The vast majority are new brands and to have the likes of Oasis and Jane Norman within Warrington adds a whole different level to the retail offer."

In addition to the retail, the scheme is also connected to a new £6m transport interchange.

The scheme is currently 80 per cent let and the new extension has pushed zone A rents up from £140 to £150 psf. It is hoped the centre's 'relaunch' will move Warrington into the top 40 of the UK's retail hierarchy. It is also expected to move the catchment up from 900,000 to 1.4 million.

"We know we can't compete directly with Manchester, Liverpool and Chester, but because of the quality and range of the brands it widens our catchment but also means more convenience for people, who have never had these brands so close to home before," says Allinson. "With any luck, they may choose to go into Liverpool a few times less a year."

Letting agents for the scheme, which is 50 per cent owned by Lend Lease and 50 per cent by a consortium of Legal & General and a client of Arlington, are Tushingham Moore and Lunson Mitchenell.

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