Talks under way to sell town centre retail complex

Regent Circus was completed in 2015 but is now mostly empty

Talks on the sale of a £50m leisure and retail complex - which is almost completely empty just 10 years after opening - have begun, BBC News understands.

When Regent Circus was built on the former Swindon College site in Wiltshire, it was hoped it would beckon in a new era for the ailing town centre.

But although there is space for a multiplex cinema, eight restaurants and a large supermarket, the only remaining business is Nando's.

Details of who could buy the new site and when this could happen have not been confirmed.

The largest of the units – and most visibly empty from the rest of the town centre – is the former Morrisons supermarket, which closed in 2019.

The supermarket chain remains contractually tied to the site.

The largely empty complex was intended to be a prominent example of town centre regeneration

At the time of the closure, the site's owners said the 15-year lease signed by Morrisons remained in place.

The firm confirmed this was still the case in July 2025, but said negotiations to surrender the lease were under way.

A Morrisons spokesperson said they were "hopeful this will be achieved in the next couple of months".

The Cineworld which was previously based in the complex shut in 2024.

Regent Circus previously went up for sale in 2020 and was believed to have been bought by UK Commercial Property REIT. That company has since been bought out by Tritax Big Box.

Tritax Big Box has been approached for comment to confirm its ownership.