'We're a community hub more than a retail centre'

Zoe Butler from the Weston Favell Centre said they wanted to offer more than just shops

A shopping centre that opened 50 years ago said it aimed to be a "community hub" and offer more than retail.

The Weston Favell Centre in Northampton is in the process of converting an empty Wilko store into a bouldering centre.

It has been vacant since October after the national homeware chain collapsed.

Zoe Butler, the marketing manager at the centre, said: "Retail is changing so that means leisure and eateries are coming to retail destinations."

Wilko collapsed last year leaving empty units in shopping centres and high streets

The shopping centre, which opened in 1974, already has former shop units occupied by a gym and a youth theatre company.

It also houses the library, which hosts a hub every six weeks for people looking for work or volunteering opportunities.

Ms Butler said the new facility, which will be the Pinnacle Climbing Centre group's second location, will "bring a completely different clientele to the centre".

She said that although the former Wilko unit was one of the larger at the site, the bouldering centre "was on the cards early on".

Yet she added: "It can be a challenge to fill the larger units, definitely, so it does end up being carved up and reduced in size to fit the smaller tenants."

The new bouldering centre hopes to open before the end of the year

Ms Butler said with competition from online shopping, high streets and out-of-town developments, the centre "sees ourselves differently to some retail destinations".

"We're more of a community hub, or community centre, rather than a shopping centre, so we've got lots of different facilities other than retail," she said.