Shops owners upbeat forecast

The company announced in April that it was planning to sell between half and three quarters of its stake in the centre, just over a year after it bought a neighbouring site that is between a quarter and a third as big as the complex.

Unveiling British Land’s first quarter results, chief executive Stephen Hester said the group was continuing to market Meadowhall to potential investment partners.

Mr Hester said: “Despite the recent flooding in South Yorkshire, the efforts of our management team and retailers resulted in the Centre being closed for only six days.

“Sixty six of the 274 units are closed for refitting, but customer appeal is such that visitor numbers in the three weeks to the end of July 2007 were up four per cent on the corresponding period in 2006, a tribute to Meadowhall’s resilience.

“The refitting works should be substantially complete in September, complementing the opening of the new Next and Primark stores and resulting in an even better Meadowhall going forward.”

When it originally announced plans to sell part of its stake in Meadowhall, British Land stressed that it expected to remain major investors in the centre and the money raised would be used to fund new developments.

British Land has reported a four per cent increase in underlying pre-tax profit to 76 million and a first quarter dividend of 8.25p a share.