Telford shopping centre boss on his love for 'beast of a place' complex

Manager Glynn Morrow said the shopping centre was one of Telford's biggest employers

A shopping centre built to provide a focal point for Telford is about to celebrate its 50th birthday.

Telford, created as a New Town, gained the Telford Centre complex on 29 October 1973.

Current manager Glynn Morrow said it was both a regional shopping destination and the equivalent of a local high street.

Having worked there for 31 years, he said: "It's a beast of a place but it's such an interesting place to work."

Today, about 2,500 people work there, with a footfall of 15 million visitors a year.

Mr Morrow said it made the centre one of Telford's biggest employers.

He previously worked in an engineering role at the centre and grew up in the town, remembering how it looked in the early days.

The rest of the management team had similar stories and he said: "Most of them have done 15 to 20 years, so we've all seen the place grow and we've all grown with it."

A Carrefour supermarket opened in the 1970s

Mr Morrow said the centre was "everything to everybody".

At weekends, he said, it was a regional shopping centre, with visitors coming from north Wales and the wider West Midlands.

During the week, he said it was more like a high street, with "the same faces" regularly returning to use the banks or post office and to have a cup of coffee.

"It is the heart of Telford," he said.

F Hinds (seen here in 1981) has been in the shopping centre since day one

Since it was created by the Telford Development Corporation, the centre has seen changes in ownership, new areas of the mall open and shops come and go.

Jewellers FH Hinds can claim to be one of the stores which has been there since day one, along with Boots and the banks, Barclays, NatWest and Lloyds.

Mr Morrow said a "massive game-changer" had been the creation of an entertainment, eating and drinking area known as Southwater, which had brought in visitors for reasons other than shopping.

But there have also been changes the shoppers do not see, such as the introduction of an autonomous cleaning machine the size of a small car, which spruces things up after the centre closes.

The weekend will see birthday celebrations and prize giveaways in the shopping centre. A time capsule buried in 1994 has been opened and new contents added.

On Monday, a team lunch is planned. Mr Morrow said it would be a chance for staff to share and write down their own memories.