Six new retailers have signed up to St. Modwen’s Longbridge Town Centre and are preparing to open in time for the busy Christmas shopping period, creating more than 400 jobs.
Well-known household names Boots, Poundland and Mountain Warehouse are taking a total of 17,500 sq ft of space in the new retail units next to Marks & Spencer.
Meanwhile, Longbridge High Street is filling up with lettings to EE store, Countrywide Estate Agents and Tailor Made, which is already providing dry cleaning and clothing alteration services to the local business community.
Demand for retail space at the UK’s leading regeneration specialist’s new £100 million Town Centre has soared since Marks & Spencer confirmed it would be opening the vast 150,000 sq ft store, the largest in the Midlands, on Longbridge High Street on the 4th November.
International pharmacy, health and beauty firm Boots will open a 10,600 sq ft store, with Poundland taking a 5,000 sq ft unit and outdoor specialist Mountain Warehouse taking 2,500 sq ft.
Mike Murray, senior development surveyor at St. Modwen, said: “A varied retail offer has always been an integral part of our plans for Longbridge, attracting new visitors, shoppers and jobs to the area.
“Phase One of the Town Centre, with UK favourites including Sainsbury’s, Beefeater, Greggs and Costa Coffee, already attracts around 30,000 shoppers to Longbridge every week – and we are expecting this number to vastly increase with these latest high profile retailers alongside the new Marks & Spencer store.
“We are in talks with a number of other retailers too, so the street scene of the Town Centre will become dramatically different over the coming months.”
The Boots, Poundland and Mountain Warehouse stores will broaden the retail offer at Longbridge significantly and are indicative of the growing interest that big brands are showing in the area following St. Modwen’s long term investment in the area. 2016 will also see the developer progress plans for a new cinema, gym, restaurant and café space at Longbridge.
The UK’s leading regeneration specialist has invested £300 million into regenerating the former MG Rover site since 2003, equating to £25 million per year. Four hundred family homes have been created along with shops, eateries, offices, the new Bournville College, Longbridge Technology Park and the new Austin Park.
As well as the fit-out of the new retail units in the Town Centre, construction work on a £35 million ExtraCare Retirement Village is underway and planning permission has been secured for a major office building called One Park Square that will create hundreds of jobs. Plans have also been approved for a landmark residential facility for military staff working at the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine (RCDM) Birmingham, with work due to begin later this year.