Kingsgate gets green light for new cinema

The new extension will incorporate a new cinema and restaurant units at the centre, as well as upgrade and expand both Next and JD Sports.

WD Kingsgate, owners of Kingsgate Shopping Centre, said the extension is in response to demand from the town’s middle-income consumer groups for well-known brands and a night-time offer.

The new cinema will be leased to The Light and will show the latest blockbusters, independent and international films. It will also screen live opera, ballet, theatre and pop concerts.

WD Kingsgate has received planning consent to expand the Next store to 25,000 sq ft. While JD Sports will be moving from a 3,000 sq ft sized unit to an 8,000 sq ft store.

Peter Everest, CEO of WD Kingsgate, said: “This is a really exciting time for us. We are responding to a need from our primary catchment to have somewhere to spend long periods of time, from day into evening.

“We have just received planning permission to build the leisure extension and enhance two of our most important stores. The new restaurants and The Light cinema will go a long way to improving the perception of the night-time economy in Huddersfield, but this is just the start – the offer at Kingsgate is going to transform dramatically over the next few years with a complete food and beverage offer. Huddersfield is definitely one for the industry to watch – it’s time the town gets the attention it deserves.”

Over the next few years the scheme will be expanded by 50 per cent with a new food and beverage-led mall being built through to the nearby High Street. Kingsgate’s anchor store House of Fraser was upgraded in September 2015.