Intu Merry Hill to get 10 million pound upgrade

Intu has announced it will invest 10 million pounds to transform the external facade of its Merry Hill shopping centre.

Intu said the investment will be the latest stage in the shopping centre’s shift towards becoming more sustainable, accessible and attractive for customers and retailers.

Plans for the transformation include the installation of a large format screen above the main entrance, and energy-saving LED lights that can change the colour of the shopping centre’s exterior walls. In the last few years, Intu Merry Hill has made its facilities more accessible to those with disabilities, redeveloped its car parks and bus stations, and introduced free high bandwidth wifi.

Dan Murphy, regional centre manager at intu Merry Hill, said: “The start of a shopping experience at any intu centre is all about bringing joy and creating a sense of occasion. With over 18 million people visiting intu Merry Hill every year we wanted to do just that.

“In the last year we’ve welcomed 20 new retailers to the centre, including huge new stores for Next and Primark, making this an even more attractive destination for shoppers. Our focus is to attract even more great brands to our mall and this redevelopment is just one of the ways we can achieve that.”

Intu Merry Hill is the Midlands' largest shopping centre and currently attracts around 18 million visitors each year. The shopping centre was also recently ranked 8th best UK shopping centre from a list of 50 by data analytics company GlobalData.

Planning permission for the project was submitted on 17 December and work is set to begin in February.

Photo credit: Intu