The focal point will be a visit to Capital Shopping Centres' Eldon Square, which is in the middle of a £170m refurbishment and extension. The project will see the creation of 480,000 sq ft of new retail space, taking the total floorspace at Eldon Square to 1.29 million sq ft.

At this size, it will rival the extended Manchester Arndale for the crown as Britain's biggest city centre mall. In fact the Eldon Square extension is three distinct projects. ES West was completed last year providing large format stores along Blackettbridge and restaurants for Wagamama and Strada overlooking Old Eldon Square.

ES North will be completed in the spring of 2008. Part of this scheme includes the new state of the art bus station which opened in March, to replace the existing facility. It offers passengers a modern, comfortable waiting area with electronic travel information and ensures shoppers' arrival and departure from Eldon Square is a more pleasant and relaxing experience, also enabling better access to the centre. Work continues on the creation of a new mall, St George's Way, to link the bus station on Percy Street with Old Eldon Square.

And work is now under way on the ES South development, which is phase three of the transformation of Eldon Square. Work on the new single-level mall extension, which will have 30 large shops trading on two levels, is expected to be completed in early 2010. CSC managing director Kay Chaldecott explains: "The scheme provides large units to respond to retailer demand to have flagship stores in one of the UK's prime shopping destinations."

Already Debenhams has signed up to anchor the extension with a 180,000-sq ft store which will trade on four levels, and value fashion chain New Look has agreed to open its biggest UK store at 37,500 sq ft.

Caroline Kirby, asset management director at CSC says: "This is a very exciting time for Eldon Square with all the improvements that are taking place in the centre to increase shopping choices and improve consumers' shopping experience. We're very much looking forward to the future and working towards what I believe will be one of the very best city centre shopping destinations."

The tour will also encompass Multiplex's Pilgrim Street East site, which is bounded by Pilgrim Street, Market Street, John Dobson Street and New Bridge Street. It occupies a central location in Newcastle city centre and adjoins the prime retail pitch on Northumberland Street.

Multiplex and its development partner, the Reuben Brothers' Aldersgate Investments, have spent several years working up plans for a major regeneration project which will provide an important physical link between the retail heart of the city and the Quayside - home to the Millennium Bridge, Baltic Mill Arts Centre, Sage Music Centre and the hotels, bars and restaurants which make up Newcastle's evening economy.

Feasibility studies are being drawn up on the basis of providing approximately 1 million sq ft of retail, leisure, offices and residential in a mixed-use regeneration which will be fully integrated within the city centre. The plan has evolved in partnership with the city council and will shortly be opened up for public consultation.

The scheme will provide a new retail offer comprising an anchor department store with a variety of major space users, physically linked with the existing prime retail core in Newcastle. The regeneration proposals will respect the urban fabric of the city centre and will incorporate open streets, civic spaces and a mixture of new and retained buildings. The project is scheduled to start on site in the autumn of 2009, with completion in late 2012.

The developers have been piecing together the site for a number of years, but acquisition reached a significant landmark earlier this year with the purchase of Commercial Union House from Morley Fund Management. The deal means Multiplex can now unveil the project to the shopping centre industry, and the arrival of the BCSC in Newcastle is the ideal time to do just that.

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