LONG delays in getting the Worth Valley Shopping Centre built is not unusual in the retail trade, according to the boss of a rival Keighley complex.

Airedale Shopping Centre manager, Steve Seymour, said it could take several years for developers to finalise complicated deals to build such centres.

He said many nationally-known retailers would not sign on the dotted line – enabling construction work to begin – until the time was absolutely right.

Mr Seymour, chairman of Keighley Town Centre Partnership, said: “The economic climate has be right for the investor and tenants.

“The developer needs to get the critical mass of tenants signing up. When they get that critical mass, they will go ahead.”

Mr Seymour spoke after local politicians last week demanded Stainsby Grange – the company masterminding the Worth Valley Shopping Centre – make a public statement on the project’s progress.

The £30 million centre was first announced in 2011, with the shops and cinema due to open in 2014, but construction work has been repeatedly put back due to difficulty signing up tenants for all 14 units.

Clothing giant Next – last year named as the likely flagship store – recently said it was “not actively progressing” with the project.

Mr Seymour, who has many years’ experience running shopping centres, pointed out Bradford’s Broadway centre – due to open later this year – had taken about 15 years to complete.

He said: “People have to be very switched on with their investments in store locations. Everything has to be linked up.

“We’re not out of the recession, but we are seeing the signs of movement. National companies are now looking for new stores.”

Bradford Council this week said it understood Stainsby Grange is working hard to sign up tenants to the Worth Valley Shopping Centre.

A council spokesman said: “Obviously, they do not always share commercial negotiations with the council.

“We will continue to support any efforts to strengthen the retail offer in Keighley.”

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