MILL Gate Shopping Centre will welcome a number of new shops and businesses this summer as it looks to recover post-pandemic.

Among the new stores is Gloria Jean’s Coffees, an Australian coffee house chain which operates more than 1,000 coffee houses in 39 countries, including over 460 in Australia.

They opened their first store in London in 2019 and Bury will be hosting one of only six branches in the UK.

Also opening at Mill Gate will be adult gaming retailers Merkur Cashino, which specialises in low stake slot gaming with pay-outs that range from £5 to £500.

Another new addition is Freeze Factory, a discount frozen food specialist, which has been trading since February 1996 when they opened their first shop in Walkden. The store will be opening on Princess Parade.

The new additions will join recently opened shops including Footloose, which is a pop-up store opened by long term existing tenants, David Spruce Footwear.

A temporary Jobcentre Plus staffed with experienced work coaches also opened in April this year.

There have also been refurbishments across some of their existing retailers, including Thirsty Fish, Monkhouse Schoolwear, Leckenby’s and Quick Crepes, which has also just celebrated their fifth year of business.

Saks has also been rebranded as Contour Hair Salon with a brand-new refit.

Mill Gate, which will celebrate its 30th anniversary next year, now boasts 450,000sqft of space with a nine-floor multi-storey car park.

The centre was developed in 1992 and currently houses more than 140 retailers including large branches of Boots, B&M and TJ Hughes. It benefited from a refurbishment to its Lower Haymarket entrance and improvements on Minden Parade in 2017.

Kirsty Williams, centre manager at Mill Gate, said: “With the year everyone has had, it is wonderful to see so many new stores opening their doors.

“We look forward to welcoming these businesses into Mill Gate and hope that the people of Bury will come visit them as soon as they open.

“Even with restrictions lifting, Mill Gate continues to keep customers and staff safe, with hand sanitizer stations, queuing systems and social distancing measures.”