Last call for the mall? How shopping centres are reinventing themselves

Keith Ely stands in a deserted shopping centre, which is out of focus behind him. He is wearing a light blue crew-neck sweater over a white, brown and blue checked shirt. He has white hair and is looking at the camera with a half-smile.

Image source, Sam Read/BBCImage caption,

Keith Ely remembers the Brunel Centre's heyday but is looking to the future

BySam Readin Bletchley and Northampton

Published1 hour ago

The Brunel Centre was once a thriving retail destination, attracting shoppers from far and wide.

"It was incredible," says town councillor Keith Ely, who remembers its opening in Bletchley, Buckinghamshire, in 1973.

Back then, centre:MK, a large destination shopping centre four miles away in Milton Keynes, did not exist, and the Brunel was quite the draw.

Now, like many other medium-sized shopping centres, it is struggling.

Vacant units and graffiti-daubed shutters dominate, and it has just one store left.

That remaining shop, a Boots Opticians, is set to close later this month ahead of the centre's planned demolition next year.

But Ely, 87, is not upset to see the Brunel make way for flats and a health centre, with only some retail space.

"It is a sad old building, isn't it?" he says. "There is no nostalgia from me."

A shot inside a shopping centre shows shuttered windows and Debenhams store signage.

Image source, ORLA MOORE/BBCImage caption,

The Debenhams store in the Grafton Centre in Cambridge closed in 2021

In the Grafton Centre, Cambridge, it is a similar story, with shuttered units, a large empty former Debenhams department store and a permanently closed cinema.

There are long-term plans for a redevelopment to include retail but also a life science centre.

This may work in Cambridge, a global leader in life sciences, but it is not an option in much of the country.

So, in the age of online shopping, what lies ahead for these medium-sized malls?

"There are too many in the UK and many don't have a future," is the stark assessment of Subjit Jassy, a director at Pioneer Group, which owns the centre.

"The old model of retailers expanding to improve turnover has now disappeared because of the internet."

Image gallerySkip image gallery

Image source, Milton Keynes Living ArchiveImage caption,
Before the Brunel Shopping Centre was built in the 1970s, people in Bletchley would travel to Aylesbury or Bedford to shop
Image source, Milton Keynes Living ArchiveImage caption,
The centre initially had little natural light, before the roof was replaced with glass
Image source, Qays Najm/BBCImage caption,
In 2021 Milton Keynes City Council was awarded £22.7m from the government's Town Deal Fund to redevelop the site
Image source, Qays Najm/BBCImage caption,
Boots Opticians, the last remaining store in the centre, is already closed on Wednesdays

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Previous imageNext imageSlide 1 of 4, This is a grainy 1970s photo showing a large angular black shopping centre and some small newly planted trees. In the foreground is a largely full car park and a nadult pushing a trolley while two children walk alongside. , Before the Brunel Shopping Centre was built in the 1970s, people in Bletchley would travel to Aylesbury or Bedford to shopEnd of image gallery

Analysis by commercial property firm CBRE, external found that while the vacancy rate across UK shopping centres in the second quarter of this year was 16%, it was "significantly lower" at major centres.

Meanwhile, research by estate agents Savills found between April and June 2026 almost 73% of consumer spending in shopping centres was in the biggest sites, with less than 18% in secondary, or medium-sized centres.

This is a head and shoulders picture of Dr Kardi Somerfield looking at the camera and smiling. The background is blurred but she is standing in a town centre.

Image source, SAM READ/BBCImage caption,

Dr Kardi Somerfield says centres that have leisure businesses can "extend the day" and attract customers into the evening

"It is not just that shopping centres have one destiny; they really don't," says Dr Kardi Somerfield, a lecturer in marketing at the University of Northampton.

Some destination shopping centres are running at "almost 100% occupancy", she adds.

Back at the Brunel, Labour's Ed Hume, responsible for housing at Milton Keynes City Council, says: "We do need shops.

"The change here is about making sure we have a town centre that is much more open."

The hope is that more town centre homes will increase the number of people to use local businesses.

Similar plans in Norwich will see the Anglia Square development primarily replaced by housing.

This is a picture from 1974 and shows adults and children gathered in a shopping centre with two people dressed as Fred and Barney from the television series The Flintstones.

Image source, WESTON FAVELL SHOPPING CENTREImage caption,

Characters from TV show The Flintstones were at the opening of the Weston Favell Shopping Centre in 1974

But there are other options rather than just tearing a centre down.

Market Walk in Northampton is t o become a leisure and entertainment space.

"Other shopping centres have a really important purpose as a community hub," says Somerfield, outlining another potential use.

This is what management are trying to achieve at another site that opened in the 1970s: Weston Favell, on the eastern edge of Northampton.

Footfall – the number of customers entering the building – has increased every year since the pandemic, says centre manager Kevin Legg.

"We are still relevant today," he says.

"Other shopping centres are trying to emulate and create what we've got."

What they have got is a mix of a large supermarket, a number of big national brands and smaller independent businesses, as well as other community facilities.

Not far from the library inside the centre is a church. It is currently being used by Silhouette Youth Theatre, a charity that aims to make the arts more accessible.

Next year it plans to create a 250-seat theatre inside part of a former Wilko store.

Ten children standing in front of chairs with their backs to the camera. They are looking at someone at the front playing a piano. Behind the piano are green curtains and a banner with a cross and the words "Christ is Risen".

Image source, BBC/SAM READImage caption,

Silhouette Youth Theatre currently holds sessions in the Emmanuel Church, inside Weston Favell Shopping Centre

George Grande, voice lead at Silhouette, says being located in a shopping centre means more people can easily arrive by public transport and gives the group more visibility.

"We've had it before where people are like 'Oh, what's this? We don't know what this is.'

"That is how we can get other people to join us."

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