Bulls-Eye!

Birmingham's Bullring shopping centre, which opens this September, is expected to revitalise the city's retail scene with a fabulous fashion line-up.

Bullring, Europe's largest retail regeneration project, is set to lift Birmingham out of its trading doldrums. With Selfridges and Debenhams each occupying one end of the iconic building, another 132 shop units, of which 61 per cent are newcomers, are creating a fashion portfolio guaranteed to re-energise the city.

Next, H&M, Gap, Benetton, Zara, French Connection and New Look have all taken large chunks of space, while Mango opens its first standalone in Birmingham and Nike will trade one of only a few selected flagship formats around the UK. Miss Sixty and Lacoste make their debut in the city, and Karen Millen, meanwhile, makes a return.

Years of uncertainty about the redevelopment helped to put the city's retail market into a state of virtual limbo. Nearby suburban retail centres capitalised on Birmingham's weakness by offering more attractive destinations for consumers.

Birmingham's current retail mix is heavily biased towards major fashion names and annual retail ranking in 1998 ranked it third best centre in the country. This year it sits at 13th place, but with the opening of the Bullring this is set to change.