LOOK INSIDE BROADWAY: Fitters ready to move in to anchor stores of Westfield's new Bradford shopping centre

Fitters will soon move in to Debenhams and Marks & Spencer to transform the newly-built units into the recognisable high street brands.

The man in charge of the project today told the Telegraph & Argus he was pleased with progress made in the last 18 months and that years of hard work had paid off.

He hopes the 72-store shopping centre will be as full as possible come opening day on November 5, as it is now over 70 per cent leased, with many of the remaining units in the latter stages of negotiation.

Duncan Bower, the director of development at Westfield - the company behind the construction which will manage the property - also said he hoped its success would have knock-on benefits for other city projects. He cited as plans for a Broadway cinema from Meyer Bergman, which owns the shopping centre site and parts of the neighbouring street.

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"We are just thrilled and absolutely delighted to be able to announce the opening date," he said.

"The benefit really for Bradford and the people of Bradford is when the shopping centre is open and they can enjoy the shopping experience here.

"We've got some great retailers onboard and what will be the first department store in 20 years for Bradford.

"But there are the other benefits that flow from that in terms of the permanent jobs as well as the regeneration and investment going into the city centre - not least from Meyer Bergman and its cinema and restaurant scheme."

With six months to go until opening day, Mr Bower said: "If it's not absolutely full, we will make sure it looks full, particularly around Christmas time with the opportunity for temp lettings. Our objective is very much for it to be 100 per cent occupied and trading."

Mervyn Lowe, project director at Westfield, explained that the £260 million development's two largest stores and said the next significant date in the diary would be handing over another section of the centre to retailers, including Next and H&M.

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"The next future milestone is the handover on July 15 to the next set of retailers. We think all the other retailers will get handed over during August. So it is all about a month on month achievement of handovers to retailers," he said.

The 570,000 sq ft centre is expected to employ around 2,500 people, and will be the largest retail centre in the country to open in 2015.

An artist's impression showing a view of the malls in The Broadway shopping centre

Principal at Meyer Bergman George Walsh-Waring said: “Having anchor retailers Debenhams and Marks & Spencer alongside numerous other high-profile high street brands in the centre highlights how The Broadway will bring a long-overdue boost to the retail offering in this part of Yorkshire.

"We are working closely with Westfield to ensure that there is an exciting mix of new retail, dining and leisure concepts in place when the centre opens its doors in November."