Unique £20m leisure complex ‘will bring hordes back to town’
THE top man behind the £20m conversion of Bolton Market Place into a unique leisure and retail centre believes it will result in a return to the days when the town drew visitors from all over the UK.
Tim Vaughan, chief executive of property developer Moorgarth, was speaking after hosting groups of retail chiefs ahead of the British Council for Shopping Centres conference which is running in Manchester today (Wednesday September 14) and tomorrow.
It was Vaughan’s brainchild to convert the 45,000sq ft of Grade II-listed Bolton Market Hall into vaulted space for restaurants and bars, after Moorgarth bought the property in late 2013 for £24m.
Restaurants including Prezzo, Nando’s alongside the Great Ale bar opened in March and now Gourmet Burger Kitchen, Pepe’s and two – so far unnamed independent restaurants – are to follow before Christmas. Downstairs there is now also an indoor adventure play area Amazonia.
Meanwhile, nine-screen cinema The Light is due to open in late September, a year behind schedule.
“We started on site 18 months ago and the vaults opened in March,” said Vaughan. “The delays in the completion of the cinema were because this has been an incredibly complicated development.
“When you cut and carve into a building as old as this (Bolton Market Hall first opened in 1855) you are always going to have difficulties.”
Vaughan admitted, however, that it was a challenge to overcome local skepticism about the project.
“A lot of people in Bolton didn’t believe we could do it,” he told TheBusinessDesk. “But the feedback is now that it has the wow factor.
“People are saying that coming in here is like being on holiday. I believe it is a truly unique development. But our aim is not just to impress people in Bolton and the surrounding locality.
“We want people to visit the Bolton Market Place from all over the country because it’s different to the competition.”
“The key is to have the right mix of retail, food and drink and leisure.”
