17:47 Thursday 5th May 2011
Drivetime
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire
ANDY BURROWS: The Brotherhood Retail Park in Peterborough is set for a £25 million makeover. And that’s the retail park that’s off Lincoln Road in the Walton area of Peterborough. It could employ up to 800 workers once the project is complete. Let’s speak to Karen Ross. She’s from Aberdeen Asset Management which is behind the plan. Hello to you Karen.
KAREN ROSS: Hi.
ANDY BURROWS: So what’s going on at the Brotherhood Retail Park then?
KAREN ROSS: Well we’re busy talking to lots of retailers to get some new names into Peterborough. We’re going to have eleven units there. It’s going to have an amazing facelift and be a real attribute to the area.
ANDY BURROWS: If people don’t know, it’s the one next door to Morrisons isn’t it, Morrisons supermarket.
KAREN ROSS: That’s right.
ANDY BURROWS: It’s fairly adjacent to it on that side of Lincoln Road. Why have you decided that the time is right? These are difficult economic times, but you think there are people out there willing to move in, do you?
KAREN ROSS: We’ve been talking to the trade for a long time, and there is a lot of interest. We obviously have to go through planning, and get the finances, so it does take quite a few years to get to this point. But we’re hoping to actually move onto the site and start building work this summer.
ANDY BURROWS: You aim to have it open, or at least partially open again, don’t you, by the summer of next year?
KAREN ROSS: That’s right. We’re hoping, we’re going to hopefully hand over to the retailers, to what we call fit out, early part of next year, and be open and trading at the end of next summer.
ANDY BURROWS: What makes it so attractive though?
KAREN ROSS: Well it’s already trading, so it’s not a brand new site. It’s very well situated in a really great area. And we have so much interest from loads of retailers that it was the perfect place.
ANDY BURROWS: Traffic can be a bit of a problem round there though. Are you looking to do anything with the roads?
KAREN ROSS: We’re hoping not to cause any traffic problems at all. We’re going to have nearly 600 car parking spaces, but we will have many travel plans in place to ensure that we don’t cause the traffic any disruption.
ANDY BURROWS: Well any development is always good news by the sound of it. Hundreds of jobs. Thank you very much, Karen Ross from Aberdeen Asset Management, which is behind that plan to rejuvenate the Brotherhood Retail Park in Peterborough.
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