The Guardian: "‘They’ve taken the heart out of Bolton’: the demise of the UK shopping centre"

Link to The Guardian

"Bolton council, which bought Crompton Place for almost £15m from the Santander pension fund in 2018, plans to knock it down, saying the town has 'a surplus of retail space'. In its place the council says it wants to build a more attractive area that it hopes will attract new tenants to empty sites around the main square and nearby streets, as part of a £1bn town centre redevelopment.

Crompton’s demise is echoed in towns and cities across the UK. Tired shopping centres have become one of the biggest obstacles to reviving high streets. Often hemmed in by buildings and hugely expensive to overhaul, they have turned from assets to liabilities – victims of a vicious cycle of store closures. Councils are increasingly becoming the owners of last resort, buying shopping centres from investment funds."