Up to 100 jobs set for expansion of Staffordshire retail scheme

AROUND 100 jobs are set to be created with the expansion of a popular Staffordshire retail development.

26 new shops are being opened at the St. Modwen-owned Trentham Estate, one of Staffordshire’s best-known attractions.

Providing almost 22,000 sq ft of retail space, the extension to Trentham Shopping Village is a significant scheme which will see the number of shops rising from 60 to 86.

St. Modwen said the expansion represented more than £7m of additional investment value to the area.
 
Highlighting the Estate’s continuing success, over half of the units are already under offer to new occupiers.

Mike Herbert, regional director at St. Modwen, said: “Work will be starting this month on the extension, creating new full and part-time employment opportunities for local people.
 
“Occupier take-up on the new units has been extremely positive, with over half of the units under offer before construction even started and we anticipate that the new stores will be fully-let prior to completion.”
 
Stoke-on-Trent based Intium Construction has been appointed to deliver the new units and construction will start on site this month, with the shops due for completion next summer.
 
St. Modwen has overseen the £100m restoration and regeneration of the Trentham Estate and Gardens since 2003. The investment has created one of Staffordshire’s busiest tourist attractions.

The Gardens have been restored by top landscape and the Estate is gearing up to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the birth of Lancelot Capability Brown, who was instrumental in the creation of the lake and parkland in the 18th century.

Elsewhere in Staffordshire, St. Modwen is continuing to invest in commercial projects and is due to start work on the first 36,000 sq ft unit at the £100m, 120-acre Business Park at Meaford, near Stone – set to be a major distribution and logistics hub, creating up to 2,200 jobs.