Coup for region as building work to begin on £350m shopping centre

Tenants have been secured for almost 50 per cent of the flagship one million sq ft retail development, which is set to transform Leeds city centre.

It will employ 3,000 retail staff when it opens in spring 2013 and will also create employment for up to 1,000 workers during the construction phase.

Parent company Land Securities revealed it has already pre-let 43 per cent of the space, another four per cent is in solicitors' hands and a further 12 per cent is under negotiation.

And following strong demand from retailers keen to get a foothold in the city, yesterday it announced it has signed up two more, high fashion chains Cult and Hollister. They will join Marks & Spencer, Boots, Next, Top Shop, River Island, Oasis, Bhs and H&M, which have already signed up to the scheme.

The development will offer more than 120 retail units and include the first Everyman Cinema in the North as well as restaurant chains Yo! Sushi and Carluccio's.

Work on Trinity Leeds stalled in April 2009 as confidence among retailers slumped. While the building site was closed down, the developers insisted the scheme, though postponed because of the recession, would continue and they were firmly committed to it.

Gerald Jennings, Land Securities' retail portfolio director for the North, said yesterday: "We have confidence and faith in Leeds. There is this growing vision for the City and Trinity Leeds will play a fundamental part in it. It will help create a major European city, a regional powerhouse. If Leeds does well, the surrounding towns and cities will benefit."

Trinity Leeds will strengthen shopping around Briggate, Commercial Street, Albion Street and Boar Lane and will incorporate a fully-integrated and extensively re-modelled Leeds Shopping Plaza.

While the scheme was put on hold, Land Securities' design team worked on a number of improvements including the creation of a new restaurant next to Holy Trinity Church.

"We hope to change the dynamics of this whole area and provide a true destination in its own right, " added Mr Jennings.

Leeds City Council leader Councillor Keith Wakefield, welcomed the news that construction would begin.

"With continuing economic uncertainty affecting regional centres across the country, resumption of work on the Trinity Leeds development comes as a timely vote of confidence in our city," he said.

Ian Williams, director of policy at Leeds, York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, said: "This is fantastic news for Leeds. It is a massive boost for the city and the local construction industry.

"With work starting on Trinity Leeds in August and on the Arena in September, it shows that confidence in Leeds is re-emerging. I believe that it is a sign of good things to come".

Barnsley Council also yesterday agreed to go ahead with compulsory purchase orders for its new town centre markets complex, which was also delayed by the recession.