Nottingham City Council has welcomed the announcement that Debenhams will be a key anchor store in the redeveloped Broadmarsh Centre.

Westfield and Hermes, joint owners of Broadmarsh, announced that Debenhams will increase their retail presence in the City with the creation of a modern 155,000 sq ft store that will replace their existing 101,911 sq ft Nottingham outlet. The announcement takes the £700m redevelopment a step closer to reality and will cement Nottingham’s position in the top five UK shopping destinations

Cllr Jon Collins, Leader of Nottingham City Council said: “I’m really pleased that key stores have been secured to underpin this massively important development for Nottingham. It will not only enhance Nottingham’s appeal as one of the country’s most popular shopping destinations, but will revitalise that part of the city centre and complement our plans to transform the station and the south side of the city.”

The City Council has given Broadmarsh planning consent to increase retail space to 1.4m sq ft to provide a southern gateway to the city centre and enable Westfield to better meet the requirements of its retailers for larger stores.

The expanded centre, which will create new retail opportunities elsewhere in the city, will offer an excellent mix of retailers across three levels. As well as fashion retailers, the new centre is also expected to include a supermarket, a fresh food hall along with arcade cafés and roof top restaurants providing panoramic views of Nottingham city centre and opening up spectacular new views of Nottingham Castle.

The centre will also have a state of the art transport interchange linking bus and tram services with parking and passenger drop-off points and a tram stop integrated within the development for easy access to the shops. There will be a new ‘airport style’ bus station with additional bus stops and bus priority lanes, parking for 3,000 cars spread across four multi-storey car parks and cycle storage facilities.

A recent report by Experian saw Nottingham ranked inside the top five best shopping destinations – with the expectation that the development of the Broadmarsh Centre will guarantee the high ranking for the next ten years. The new development is a key part of the transformation of the south side of the city, where 38 hectares of new offices, shops and homes are set to be developed. At the heart of the plans for the Southside is Nottingham Station, earmarked for a £60m redevelopment which, together with the new Broadmarsh, will create a fitting new gateway to the city.

Other new developments, such as Trinity Square the Pod and One Fletchergate, are closer to completion and will also enhance Nottingham’s retail offer.