Retailers flock to Peterborough's Ortongate Shopping Centre as new owners transform mall's fortunes

A raft of retailers have moved to open shops in Peterborough’s Ortongate Shopping Centre as its new owners give the mall a renewed lease of life.

The new arrivals mean the 15-year-old shopping centre in Orton Goldhay is now 80 per cent full compared to barely half full before Nottingham-based property developer ALB Group bought the premises in April.

Among the new retailers are Posh Beds & Furniture, JC Kitchens & Tiles, Glo Bar Tanning and Beauty, Vorwerk appliance store as well as The Orton Sportsbar & Fanzone and an independent florist and a barber shop.

Just five units are empty and talks are in progress with retailers on those.

And the owners say they will soon make an announcement on another new arrival as negotiations are underway with a major high street retailer for the lease on the former Wilko store.

Wilko, which occupied the centre’s flagship 23,436 square feet store, closed last month after the retailer collapsed into administration. Discount retailer Poundland has already announced it hopes to acquire the lease for the former Wilko store in the Ortongate centre.

The flurry of new arrivals comes after ALB Group opted to invest in refurbishing the empty units in the centre enabling new tenants to move in without needing to spend vast sums on decoration and shop fronts.

Arran Bailey, managing director of ALB Group, said: “We’ve quickly achieved what we set out to do by carrying out a comprehensive refurbishment of units that were previously just concrete shells.

“Our creation of ‘white box’ units, all ready for tenants to move into, has provided the catalyst we needed to reverse the fortunes of Ortongate.

“We’re delighted to welcome such a broad range of new tenants to the site, helping to breathe new life into the area.”

Oliver Marshall, director at property agent FHP, said: “Since ALB bought the site, we’ve seen it rapidly transform from a flagging shopping centre that was only half-empty to one with 80 per cent occupancy.

“The deals we’ve agreed have provided customers with a whole new variety of retailers and leisure businesses – and we are having lots of positive ongoing conversations with other potential tenants.

“The refurbishment work carried out by the new landlord has made the empty units much more attractive and much more accessible to new businesses, and we’re confident that it won’t be long before the remaining 20 per cent is occupied.”

It is a far cry from before the ALB Group took over when the centre was struggling to attract retailers.

ALB has been gaining a growing reputation for kickstarting the fortunes of depressed high streets and retail centres across the UK.

Areas like Bridlesmith Gate in Nottingham, Albion Street in Derby and Sailmakers Shopping Centre in Ipswich have all benefited from ALB’s promise of better tenancy terms for traders.

While a wide mix of both large national chains and small independent traders is the goal, ALB says it has been especially keen to make tenancy agreements affordable and flexible enough to attract more local and niche entrepreneurs.