WREXHAM’S Eagles Meadow shopping centre has been nominated for a UK award alongside the likes of Liverpool One and London’s Westfield Centre.
The complex has been put forward for a gold accolade in the category for in-town shopping centres over 300,000 square feet in the annual awards of the BCSC (British Council of Shopping Centres).
The winner will be announced at a prize-giving ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel, in Park Lane, London, on December 2.
Eagles Meadow celebrates its first birthday this week after opening for business on October 30 last year.
Town centre manager Isobel Watson said the development had had a positive impact on Wrexham, despite around a dozen premises lying empty in the town centre.
She said: “It’s fantastic because it puts us in the same league as Liverpool One and the Westfield Centre.
“Eagles Meadow is a wonderful development, it’s made a huge difference to the town and put us on the map.
"Part of the criteria for the award is about whether the finished development has reached the potential outlined at the beginning of the process and Eagles Meadow has.
“The complex has delivered exactly what was put before the elected members of Wrexham Council in May 2004. It puts us in a very strong position in terms of coming out of the recession and being ready to meet new challenges.
“Other towns and cities had schemes mothballed or cancelled and I would much rather be where we are. In the last month there hasn’t been a week when we haven’t opened a new shop somewhere in Wrexham.
“We regard Eagles Meadow as part of Wrexham’s retail offerings in the same way as Island Green and the Border Retail Park are.”
Michelle Bougatsas and her sister, Sharon Prossett, run woman’s fashion shop Nia and contemporary gift shop Pondiki in Charles Street.
She said: “People in Wrexham are very loyal but Eagles Meadow has helped significantly by bringing more people into the town and those who come are here for the day and are of enormous benefit.
“They are coming for a purpose and will spend and I’m sure Wrexham is faring a lot better than many market towns.”
Kevin Critchley, manager of Eagles Meadow, said: “We are undoubtedly the capital of shopping in North Wales – there is nobody else who can touch us for the offer we are giving to people.”