High Street giant Marks & Spencer holds the key to work on the Broadway development beginning in the next five months, Bradford's regeneration chief has revealed.

Shopping centre giant Westfield, which is spearheading the £300 million retail and office development in Bradford, is understood to be in "very close" negotiations with M&S.

If negotiations reach a successful conclusion, construction work could finally get under way at the eyesore city centre site in October, according to Councillor Andrew Mallinson, Bradford Council's portfolio holder for regeneration.

He said the start of the eagerly-anticipated scheme also rested on the availability of a 60-strong core team of construction experts, which is currently working on Westfield's Eagle Centre redevelopment in Derby.

Coun Mallinson said: "As a council we are committed to saying hopefully they will be on site in October, but it rests on two things.

"Number one is the signing of major anchor tenants. Westfield are still in very close negotiations with Marks & Spencer. They are so close to getting the whole package together, and they are also getting more inquiries from small units at the same time.

"They perhaps need one more large anchor tenant."

As reported previously in the T&A, Debenhams and Bhs have already signed up as anchor tenants.

Councillor Mallinson said: "The second thing it rests on is the availability of a 60-strong construction team who are still working on one of their schemes in Derby. Once that is finished, we are hoping the next natural place for them to come is Bradford. Westfield class them as their main team and they don't currently have another project to go to.

"The first person to know they are about to start work will be a bed & breakfast owner when they get a booking for 60 people. Westfield have had different teams on the site doing last minute preparations ready for the steel piling required."

Coun Mallinson said the Council had a deal with Westfield, which had been in place from day one, to take all the office units in the Broadway development, but he said the Council had no intention of underwriting any of the retail units to sub let to tenants.

Once the development opens, the Council may then transfer its staff to the new offices in Broadway from Jacob's Well, which is earmarked for demolition to make way for the business park forest.

Both Westfield and M&S were keeping mum about the negotiations.

A spokesman for Westfield said: "For commercial reasons, we can't confirm further discussions with retailers who are not contractually committed. We will make announcements on signed retailers as soon as we are able to.

"We are in advanced legal negotiations with a number of major retailers that need to be concluded prior to the start of construction.

"Our time-scale is dependent on a number of factors, not least the requirement to have a number of retailers committed to the scheme."

A spokesman for Marks & Spencer said: "Nothing has been signed yet. Marks and Spencer does not comment on rumour and speculation."

Val Summerscales, of Bradford Chamber of Trade, said: "Everyone in the city centre is waiting with bated breath for them to start.

"We understand the intricacies of getting key tenants signed up before they can start and we look forward to negotiations proceeding speedily to allow them to be on site as soon as possible.

"It's very positive that key tenants want to come to Bradford, although Marks & Spencer are already represented in Bradford."

It is not yet known what the addition of M&S as one of the cornerstone stores of the Broadway project will mean, if anything, for the existing M&S store on Darley Street.

Mike Cartwright, policy executive at Bradford Chamber, said: "Everyone is keen to see the project get underway at the earliest possible time. We know that Westfield are speaking to many companies to ensure a wide range of top quality retail offer is put in place."

Councillor Ian Greenwood, leader of the Council's Labour group, said: "I have always believed Westfield to be acting in good faith and I am hopeful they will conclude contracts and build the development. It's extremely important for the future of the district and I have told them that face-to-face."

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