Work is about to begin on the huge new designer outlet village opening in Cannock.

The McArthurGlen Designer Outlet village has been described as being similar to Bicester village and Cheshire Oaks.

Today, McArthurGlen - Europe’s leading owner, developer and manager of designer outlets - has confirmed that construction of the £160 million designer outlet in Cannock will commence this month.

Work will start with site preparation and foundation works.

McArthurGlen Designer Outlet village Cannock

It's been a long time coming.

Cannock Chase District Council granted planning approval for a designer outlet at Mill Green in September 2016.

This came following extensive consultations with the local community.

The village will be huge, spanning 285,000sq ft of retail space across two phases.

Phase I will be home to 80 sought-after premium and luxury brands offering year-round savings of up to 60 per cent, a selection of restaurants and cafés, a children’s play area, bike parking for cyclists and 1,400 car parking spaces.

That's due for completion in 2020, with Phase II starting afterwards.

CGI of McArthurGlen Designer Outlet Village, formerly known as Mill Green, in Cannock

Gary Bond, Joint Managing Director of Development at McArthurGlen, said: “We are thrilled to start construction on this milestone development for Cannock.

"The new centre will generate significant employment for the local area and create a new retail destination for the region, serving 11 million local residents.

"Cannock Designer Outlet will be built to the highest standards of architectural design and sustainability, reflecting and respecting the surrounding natural landscape."

CGI of McArthurGlen Designer Outlet Village in Cannock

It's thought the development, a joint venture with Aviva Investors, The Richardson Family and U+I, will generate 1,000 jobs for the local area.

It will become the Group’s 26th centre, and their seventh in the UK.

Developers are also promising to deliver an additional £1.5 million investment in community projects that will include the enhancement and ongoing maintenance of the Mill Green Nature Park, improvements to Cannock Town Centre and the railway station, and support for developing skills and employment prospects for local people.

Councillor George Adamson, Leader of Cannock Chase Council, said: “The reality of creating one of the most significant things to happen in the district in recent memory is definitely here now, with this exciting news.

"As construction commences we will be working closely with McArthurGlen to ensure that disruption is kept to the minimum for our residents, as we progress to a development we can all be very proud about."

Derbyshire based construction company, Bowmer & Kirkland, has been appointed to deliver the scheme.

There’s no news on which brands will be there but the developers are saying they plan to bring labels currently only found in places such as Bicester Village, which boasts more than 160 designer brands like Burberry , Prada , Fendi , Gucci and Stella McCartney .

The Oxfordshire village also features Villeroy & Boch homeware, Anya Hindmarch and Radley handbags, Jimmy Choo shoes and Swarovski jewellery.

There are lots of new developments planned happening in and around Birmingham.

An epic new Primark is coming to the city centre and a giant flagship Next is opening at intu Merry Hill.

Birmingham’s first zero waste supermarket has just opened in Brum and there are some large-scale shopping and leisure complexes planned too.

Here’s the new shops we’re looking forward to in 2018.

The start of construction on Cannock Designer Outlet comes at a time of rapid growth for McArthurGlen, which opened Europe’s first designer outlet in the UK in 1995 and now operates 24 centres in nine countries.

The Group plans to open the first designer outlet in the south of Spain in 2019.

It is currently expanding two of its existing centres in the UK - Cheshire Oaks near Manchester, which is the country’s largest designer outlet, and Ashford near London.

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