Merry Hill transformation: New cinema and restaurants part of £100m project

Merry Hill owners intu have revealed dramatic plans for a new cinema and a string of restaurants as part of a major extension of the shopping centre.

Artist impression showing how the proposed leisure extension at Merry Hill could look

The company has just bought the building that houses the existing Odeon cinema at Merry Hill and is now in talks with the chain to move them into a new cinema building that would be constructed at the rear of the centre.

It would be surrounded by a series of new restaurants as part of intu's aim to double the amount of entertainment and eating space at Merry Hill.

The scheme, which is expected to go to Dudley Council planners later this year, is part of intu's £100 million programme of improvements at the Black Country shopping centre over the next few years.

Odeon cinema on The Embankment outside Merry Hill

Matthew Roberts, intu's chief financial officer, reaffirmed the company's belief that Merry Hill could become one of its "best performing assets" in the coming years, rivalling the likes of intu's Trafford Centre and Lakeside in Essex. "We are very happy with the way Merry Hill is performing at the moment."

He said: "Across our estate food and leisure outlets occupy around 11 per cent or 12 per cent of the space on average, but at Merry Hill that is only five per cent. So we have just bought the Odeon cinema and as our next step we would like to bring the Odeon into the main centre.

"We want to extend the centre at the rear to incorporate a new cinema and surround it with with a lot of restaurants. Over the next few years our plan is to double the amount of leisure and food at Merry Hill, from five per cent to 10 per cent."

The current cinema building is leased by Odeon, said Mr Roberts. Plans for the scheme are still at an early stage, so intu is still mulling over the eventual use of that building once Odeon has moved into the new cinema in the centre.

Bosses want to bring the cinema inside the centre

Meanwhile Mr Roberts said talks were currently under way with a potential new tenant for the empty BHS store at Merry Hill.

The company is reshaping the centre to reduce the number of smaller units so it can create larger shop areas to meet the demands of retail chains that want to be able to show off a greater range of products.

Intu has already seen Top Shop, River Island and JD Sports taking additional space at Merry Hill and recently sealed a deal that will see current tenant Next take over the redeveloped former Sainsbury supermarket site.

At the same time, the programme of expanding shop sizes will also help increase the amount of rent intu can charge its tenants, making the shopping centre more profitable.