Students of the University of Chester Business School have been provided with a vision of future retail developments in Chester, thanks to senior manager for major regeneration projects at Cheshire West and Chester Council Clare Huber.

Clare took them on a walking tour of the planned new retail development sites in Northgate, allowing them to explore parts of the city centre that they had never visited before.

They learned how these areas will be transformed over the next four years, with the introduction of world-class building design providing a wealth of exclusive retail, entertainment and hospitality facilities and infrastructure.

Following the tour, the final year retail management students watched a film demonstrating artists’ impressions of the new retail space and were able to explore with Mrs Huber the wide ranging factors influencing retail planning and decision making at a city-wide level.

The students are studying degrees in business management, business finance, marketing management, events management and international tourism management and have all chosen the Retail and Organisational Management module as part of their degree.

Lisa Conway, who leads Retail and Organisational Management for the university, said: “The students found the tour absolutely fascinating and it gave students a rare insight into the place-making strategy behind retail and the High Street.”

She added that throughout the module students have been able to meet leading figures from industry, gaining a wide range of insights and information that would be difficult to access otherwise to help students understand the broad context of retail strategy, as well as the detail of management.

Cabinet member economic development and infrastructure councillor Brian Clarke said: “Chester Northgate comes alive when people can walk around the footprint and hear first-hand how this exciting development fits into the city centre.

“For a lot of people, they see parts of Chester that they haven’t seen before and get a better understanding of the scale and how it will enhance the city.

“Chester Northgate is a mixed use development, designed to complement Chester’s current offer of retail, leisure, tourism and city centre living.”