Five Valleys Shopping Centre hits redevelopment milestone

By Nicky Godding

23 September 2020

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The redevelopment of Stroud's Five Valleys Shopping Centre has reached a key milestone with the completion of the third and most significant phase of the work this September.

Speller Metcalfe began work on site in May last year, to build a retail experience which will attract visitors and investment into the town.

five_Valleys-43 A key feature of the works has been the complete reshaping of the building to create a large central space which has enabled the shopping centre to create an indoor market place, inspired by London's Borough Market.

The first trader opened for business in July, with food stalls including Japanese, Thai, Indian, Middle Eastern and British food, alongside a butcher, chocolatier, greengrocer and bakery now on site.

The 1960s car park has also been given a facelift.

Andy Metcalfe, joint Managing Director at Speller Metcalfe, said: "It has been exciting to witness the development of the Five Valleys into a very attractive and thought-out shopping experience for Stroud, with retailers establishing themselves into the centre for works have even completed."

five_Valleys-10 He added: "The Speller Metcalfe team has also been delighted to be a part of this scheme, as being a local contractor, it has directed benefited our supply chain who hail directly from Stroud and the wider Gloucestershire region."

The original Merrywalks Centre was rebranded following investment by Dransfield Properties, which, alongside investment from Gloucestershire' Local Enterprise Partnership, GFirst LEP, has set about transforming the formerly tired and ageing town centre retail hub.

five_Valleys-31 Mark Dransfield, Managing Director at Dransfield Properties, said: "This phase of works at Five Valleys has really helped to transform the centre, creating much better connectivity and a much more pleasant shopping experience.

"It's great to see what has been achieved over the last 12 months and the changes coming to fruition. We have had some really positive feedback from our shoppers and tenants and we are pleased to see so many new businesses now opening and thriving at the centre."

By Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe.

After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts.

She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.