First store to open at Sheffield's newest retail park this week

St James’ Retail Park, on the former Norton College site, just off the Bochum Parkway, Meadowhead will fully open over the weekend of July 7 and 8.

But bakery chain Greggs, which has more than 1,700 locations across the UK, will be the first retailer to have an outlet on the site when it opens a branch on Thursday.

Work on the complex is nearing completion and units are in the process of being handed to tenants.

The full list of retailers signed up for the new centre so far include Next, M&S Foodhall, Aldi, TK Maxx, Specsavers, HomeSense, Wilko, Mountain Warehouse, ShoeZone, Card Factory, Greggs and Costa.

Developers St James Securities said the scheme will create 250 full-time jobs, in addition to the 124 jobs created during construction.

The developer believe the retail park will complement other regeneration schemes, such as the £16 million revamp of the nearby Graves Tennis and Leisure Centre and the new National Centre for Sport and Exercise.

Retail giant Next has been granted planning permission to build a coffee shop in its store on the site, along with Costa and Greggs.

Norton College, the larest campus owned by Sheffield College, closed in 2015 and courses moved into a new £8.8 million extension at the college’s Hillsborough site.