Barons Quay - Cheshire's exciting new shopping centre!

Scheduled to be completed in autumn 2016, Barons Quay is going to be the premier shopping centre in Cheshire. It will be a retail and leisure centre in the heart of Northwich, easily accessible from Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool and Birmingham. It will enrich Northwich and be a place where people can shop, eat, drink and enjoy themselves.

The centre will take advantage of its riverside placement and will have 6 restaurants overlooking the river with beautiful views. The main retail chains flanking the centre will be ASDA, M&S and a large, 5 screen Odeon cinema. The car park will have 900 free spaces for limited stays and the centre will of course house all amenities. It will also be fully accessible to wheelchair users and disabled patrons.

The owners are currently leasing out spaces within the centre with lots of opportunity for leisure and retail. While much of it has been bought up already, there are still a few spaces left.

£80 million has been spent on the development of the centre, which is hoped to improve tourism to Northwich town as well. The town itself is famed for its Victorian era buildings, with authentic timber frames. It also sites between the River Dane and River Weaver, which has given it a history of being a major part of the old salt industry. These are both parts of the reason the town has been on the Sunday Times ‘list of 101 Best Places to Live in Britain' twice. Northwich is one of only two north-west towns to have the honour. Other reasons are the town's low crime rate, great schools and low property prices.

Barons Quay - Northwich Shopping about to get better

You couldn't really blame town planners if they struggled to come up with ways to improve the pretty Cheshire market town of Northwich, but Barons Quay aims to do just that. Due to open later in 2016, this imaginative leisure and retail development will turn Northwich town centre into an even more desirable destination for shopping, relaxation and enjoyment.

Summer will see shops and restaurants linked to existing outlets, making full use of the riverside setting. By autumn they will be joined by new branches of Marks and Spencer and Asda, with a further 100,000 feet of retail space, a five-screen cinema and more eateries and bars. Some restaurants will have the added attraction of riverside views, which will doubtless prove especially popular. A further attraction for travellers is the offer of free car parking for a limited period.

Northwich's history is steeped in a flourishing salt industry, and today its Victorian timber-framed buildings stand where the rivers Dane and Weaver meet. Its inclusion in two recent Sunday Times lists of the best places to live in the UK gives an indication of its charms, and it serves not only the local community and its surroundings, but also nearby towns such as Nantwich, Knutsford and Altrincham.

Barons Quay is conveniently located in the heart of Northwich, which is easily accessed by public transport or car, being only 23 miles to the south-west of Manchester, for example. The town sits in the middle of the green county of Cheshire, which is surrounded by Staffordshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside and Wales, making it a convenient stopping-off point or break for those travelling through.
The additional facilities of Barons Quays can only enhance the already-thriving community of Northwich, and could even help to return it to the prominence that it enjoyed at the height of salt production.

Places to shop in Cheshire, UK

Every county in Britain will have some real treasures for any keen shopper, and Cheshire is no exception.

Warrington, the largest city in Cheshire, is a good place to start our overview. The Golden Square shopping centre will cover most of the bases, offering its visitors a wide and comprehensive selection of prime retail outlets: whether you want to pick up some gorgeous new clothes or simply grab a bite to eat, Golden Square will be the perfect place. If you still have energy after your visit, you will find plenty of great shops dotted around the town.

But just because Warrington is the largest town does not mean it should have all of the glory...

If you are visiting Cheshire for a shopping experience, then Northwich will be a must-see destination. Northwich has its origins as a market town, so we should not be surprised that it has no shortage of great places to shop. Make no mistake, your primary retail destination here will have to be the Barons Quay shopping centre - an expansive complex that combines both retail and leisure outlets, along with an attractive waterfront environment.

Another worthwhile place to visit would be the county town of Chester. As well as being rich in local history, the city will not disappoint the discerning shopper. Throughout the city we find a wide number of unique shops with their own individual philosophies: Ancient World sells items for history buffs, Old Guys Rule specialises in grandfatherly gifts, and Castle Galleries is the perfect place if you want to pick up some art. Of course, we also find a more traditional retail complex in the form of the Grosvenor Shopping Centre.

We hope that this brief overview has opened your eyes to the many wonderful shopping experience to be had in Cheshire.

A New Shopping Centre for Northwich

Retail therapy is a well-known way of giving yourself a little lift, but it certainly doesn't hurt if the place where you are spending your money looks attractive as well. The new Barons Quay shopping centre, due to open in Northwich, Cheshire, later this year, looks just the job; not only will it have many of your favourite shops, but it's located right by the River Weaver. The new centre's restaurants and cafes will have great views across the river and Barons Quay will also be connected to the existing town's facilities.

Of course there are other shopping centres in Cheshire -- the Grosvenor centres in Chester and Macclesfield, the Forum centre in Chester, Winford Cross in Winsford to name just a few, and there are many closer to Manchester. But Northwich itself lacks a central hub with the sorts of facilities that Barons Quay will offer, including a five-screen Odeon, a large Asda and a flagship Marks and Spencer shop.

While Northwich is a beautiful market town, it has struggled in the past to meet demand for some of the larger chains of shops. The new centre will allow development of such stores without a complete change to the character of the town centre. There will also be plenty of parking for those who visit the new centre, so that they're not overloading the town's existing facilities. While it's a laudable plan to have more people using public transport to access this sort of facility, the catchment area for Northwich shoppers is largely a rural one, and it's foolish to ignore the fact that people will be wanting to use their cars in such a situation.

Really looking forward to this!

Places to shop in Cheshire, UK.

New development in the heart of Cheshire

With quaint canals and with two rivers flowing through it, Northwich is located in the centre of the Cheshire Plain. A thriving town since Roman times and well known for its rock salt mining history, the market town is characterised as much by historic old houses as its mineral exports. Voted one of the best places to live in the UK (2014), this story of success looks set to continue as the area this year becomes home to an innovative development in the form of a flourishing new retail and leisure quarter, starting from late summer.

Covering over 28,000 square metres and with open spaces for use by restaurant customers, cinema goers and shoppers taking a break, Baron’s Quay will create local jobs. Convenient on-site parking will accommodate nearly a thousand cars - free of charge. Among some of the early signings in the £80 million development are ASDA and Marks & Spencer, along with a five-screen cinema complex to be operated by Odeon. Other exciting announcements are expected shortly as the first phase of this exciting new project comes to life well in time for autumn and Christmas shopping.

The developers see this shopping and leisure development as complementary to Northwich town centre - a place people will choose to visit, shop conveniently, enjoy a choice of six restaurants and – above all – to enjoy the convenience.

The setting has been carefully considered and planned to make the most of the attractive riverside setting, for visitors and shoppers to enjoy the relaxing waterside views.

Conveniently located for easy access from the M6 and M56 motorways, Northwich enjoys good road links to Macclesfield, Nantwich and Stockport, near Manchester. The beautiful city of Chester is just 18 miles to the west.