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Merrion Centre’s Game Changing 2017

The Merrion Centre is celebrating the end of what has been another hugely successful year after continued investment yielded strong visitor numbers, and 10 new exciting brands further complemented its existing mix of retail and leisure offerings.

In total, the centre welcomed over 11.5M internal shoppers through its doors in 2017, with the final quarter being it’s most successful. More than 3.5million people visited the Merrion Centre in the last three months of the year, an increase of 65,000 shoppers from the same period last year.

Helen Green, Associate Director for Town Centre Securities (TCS), owner of the Merrion Centre, said:

“In 2017, we focused on what we know our customers want which is access to a range of shops to suit every budget, together with fun events and entertainment.

We’ve put our fantastic location to good use, hosting high profile events to bring in the crowds and ensure there’s always something exciting happening.

Our most popular events were our pre-MOBO’s party, Christmas grotto and visit from children’s television favourite Mr Bloom. These, together with our continued investment, have all contributed to what has been another bumper year.

We are very confident that as we announce new tenants, and celebrate the completion of the newly developed home to Leeds City Council, Merrion House, that we will see even further growth in our footfall in 2018.”

The end of a successful year also marks the completion of TCS’ initial 10-year investment plan for the longest-standing shopping centre. In recent years, £70m has been spent on refurbishing and redeveloping the centre including increasing the total retail and leisure space, the addition of a hotel, and refurbishment of the on-site CitiPark car park.

This year saw further positive changes to the area when Marco Pierre White officially opened his first Marco’s New York Italian bar and restaurant which is adjoined to the recently opened and highly successful, Yorkshire-themed ibis Styles Leeds City Centre Arena hotel.

TCS and the Merrion Centre have long been strong drivers of the regeneration of the Arena Quarter region of Leeds which includes the First Direct arena. In 2017, TCS was recognised for this hard work by being presented with the Yorkshire Property Awards “game changer” award.

2017 also saw a range of additional new tenants to the Merrion Centre, including beauty outlet Glamour Forever, financial services provider Leeds Credit Union and food outlets including Bengal Brasserie, Hook and Line, Sticky Sisters and Burger King. Existing tenants continued to thrive, with MyThai being crowned as the “Best Restaurant in Leeds” and both the Leeds United store and Heron Foods both celebrating their first anniversaries.

Paul Bell, Executive Director at Leeds United, said:

“Our Merrion Centre store continued to be a huge success for us in 2017. It’s vitally important for us to have a city centre location and the Merrion Centre is the ideal venue for us. Not only have we seen great sales at the store but having a presence in the Merrion Centre means we’ve been able to hold player signings and events and ensure that our fans can meet their favourite players.”

Edward Ziff OBE, Chairman and Chief Executive of TCS said,

“The past year saw some challenges to the retail industry with uncertainties around Brexit and a weaker pound all taking a toll on shopper confidence. However, through continual investment we ensure we’re catering for our visitors by providing customer choice through our various tenants. We have some very exciting plans for 2018 and will be working hard to ensure the Merrion Centre remains one of the best places to visit in Leeds.”