Future's looking good for town centre shoppers

Bosses of Phase 4 and the Antonine Centre say businesses are enjoying an upturn in trade and that there are plenty of exciting innovations afoot to make it stay that way.

These include:

The former Woolworths premises in the Antonine Centre being snapped up by the Poundworld chain for a June opening.

Two new shops - Home Bargains and Denim Depot- scheduled for an imminent opening in Phase Four.

A recovering 'footfall' in the same mall as visitors hit the 80,000 mark.

Motorised scooters and wheelchairs being introduced to the Antonine Centre to help disabled shoppers.

The Antonine Centre's car park winning a coveted industry award for car park safety.

Giant screens being erected in the same mall to beam in World Cup games live from South Africa.

Antonine manager Karen Blair said: "I'm very happy with the way the centre has evolved. Footfall continues to increase and greater volume will be generated via Poundworld.

Phase 4 manager Robert Barr said: "We survey our tenants monthly and they are reporting an encouraging upturn in trade.

"Some claim to have been barely affected by the recession, while others see the recovery as an opportunity to strengthen their trading position and drive sales."

Steven Griffiths of CNC Properties, who oversee the older, upstairs section of the centre known as Phase 1 and 2, said: "Unfortunately, we have been affected by the recession in much the same way as other high streets.

"It is unfortunate that a lot of our tenants are in small family businesses, which tend to be badly affected.

"While the situation isn't getting any better, it is not necessarily getting any worse.

"We are concentrating at the moment on trying to rent out properties in Forth Walk, which are available at what I would say is a concessionary rate.

"We try to remain positive about the future."