£110m Bicester Village-style shopping outlet secures green light
A NEW shopping outlet centre dubbed Staffordshire’s answer to Bicester Village has secured full planning permission.
Development partners U+I and Rioja Developments are behind the Mill Green Village scheme, which would be situated on the outskirts of Cannock town centre.
The development has already been backed by the Government following consent last year from the then Secretary of State for the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG), Greg Clarke.
The multi-million-pound development is the biggest of its kind in the West Midlands. It is set to inject much needed investment into the area, provide a huge economic boost and put the area firmly on the designer outlet map.
The phased scheme will cost in excess of £110m and will create over 1,200 jobs.
Nestled in a valley adjacent to a nature reserve the 26,505m² outlet village will provide up to 130 designer outlet stores, new restaurants and around 2,000 car parking spaces.
The site, which had previously been designated as a science and technology park by Cannock Chase Council, is an attractive opportunity for developers as it benefits from relatively easy access due to major junctions of the M6 and M6 Toll being close by.
Richard Upton, deputy CEO, U+I, said: “This is a major investment that could generate more than £500m of socio-economic improvements over the next 10 years and create in excess of a thousand jobs, benefitting Cannock and the wider region and putting this outlet in the top five outlet centres nationally.
“We intend to create a unique experience in factory outlet retailing which will complement the beautiful environment, including a real focus on sustainability.”
Giles Membrey, Rioja Developments’ managing director, added: “This is a key stage on our journey to make our vision for the Mill Green development become reality. It’s a unique location in terms of both the commercial opportunity and surrounding landscape. We can now finalise our plans for the scheme before we make a start on site next year.”
The area will also benefit from considerable investment in off-site improvements, including the widening of Eastern Way and the addition of much-needed pedestrian crossings. Moreover, Cannock will benefit from a further investment of circa £150,000 for town centre improvements.
The village is aimed at attracting upmarket, premium fashion designer brands not normally found in local town centres and is expected to draw around three million visitors into the area each year.
Phase one of the development could start by the autumn 2017, with an anticipated opening in spring 2019.
Cllr George Adamson, leader of Cannock Chase Council, said: “It will provide a huge economic boost to Cannock Chase District, creating jobs and attracting private sector investment. It will significantly raise the profile of the district.”
It could see around 3m people visiting the area every year.
U+I is a property regeneration company that transforms undervalued parts of towns and cities, acting as a stimulus to investment. The product of a merger between Development Securities and Cathedral Group, U+I has a current market capitalisation of c.£300m.
It has a portfolio of mixed-use regeneration projects in London, the South-East, Manchester and Dublin.
Rioja Developments is a specialist outlet village development company that promotes and develops outlet schemes across Europe. To date, Rioja has been involved in over one million sq ft of outlet centres in Europe, most recently opening a One Fashion Outlet centre in Bratislava in 2014.
Rioja is currently working on a number of new European schemes in France (Bordeaux), Denmark and Ireland and has received a planning consent for Villages des Alps, near Geneva, Switzerland. In the UK, Rioja has just launched a new outlet scheme in Grantham.
