Sainsbury's and Cineworld have been announced as the major 'anchor' tenants for 'The Crescent', Hinckley town centre's £80 million bus station redevelopment scheme.

The Tin Hat Regeneration Partnership, which is a Joint Venture between Wilson Bowden Developments Ltd and Centenary Ashcroft, are pleased to announce that agreements have now been exchanged with Sainsbury's, who currently trade from a small store on the site, for a major new food store, and also with Cineworld, who will be providing Hinckley with a, long awaited, five screen state of the art multiplex cinema.

The development has been designed to provide larger units to complement the existing town centre shops and to provide Hinckley with purpose built, well configured retail space to meet the needs of modern retail requirements. It comprises a total of 270,000 sq ft of new floor space to include a food store, cinema, retail units, restaurants, bowling alley, offices and car parking.

The joint letting agents are Strutt & Parker and Lambert Smith Hampton. Further major retail pre lettings are being undertaken and more news will follow early in 2011.

Rob Williams, Head of Retail Development at Strutt & Parker says 'After a considerable period of most retail development activity being placed on hold due to unfavourable economic conditions, the growing realisation by retailers that the new scheme supply pipeline of retail accommodation has dried up, is leading to developers of sensibly proportioned and configured proposals in attractive retail centres, starting to progress their schemes. The Crescent in Hinckley is one such proposition which is making significant progress towards on-site construction with planning having been submitted and the two anchor operators secured over the past month.'

Sainsbury's was advised throughout the transaction by Croma Properties and Cineworld by Wareing & Partners.

A planning application for the scheme designed by t p bennett + ENGLE was submitted to Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council in September.

Will Robinson of Wilson Bowden on behalf of Tin Hat said "Securing two anchor operators as strong nationally as Sainsbury's and Cineworld is a major step forward in the delivery of this vital regeneration project, and clearly demonstrates the potential that exists within Hinckley Town Centre. We have been working closely with both operators for some time to integrate their requirements into our design, and now that they are secured, we will look to make further progress with other operators, who have confirmed their desire to come to Hinckley, in early 2011."

Robert Oxley, Regional Development Executive for Sainsbury's, said: "We are very excited to be announcing our part in the redevelopment plans, which will include a replacement Sainsbury's food store in Hinckley. The proposed 56,000sq ft store will create new jobs and provide people with an improved local food-shopping offer. This will prevent the need to travel to neighbouring towns and in turn benefitting the local economy and the town centre.

Cineworld CEO, Steve Wiener comments: "We're excited about signing to operate a new all digital Cineworld in Hinckley. It's fantastic news for Cineworld and we are delighted to be working with Wilson Bowden on the project. We hope when the new five screen cinema opens it will provide a great source of entertainment that can be enjoyed by the whole community."

"Cineworld will bring a fantastic range of film and alternative content to Hinckley and with state-of-the-art digital capability we look forward to screening the latest 3d films on release."

Leader of Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Councillor Stuart Bray said: "I am delighted that the Tin Hat Partnership has secured these two major national companies to come to Hinckley in this exciting retail scheme. It demonstrates the reality of the project and underpins the council's commitment to the project to facilitate the delivery of the scheme to 2014. This provides a taste of the future opportunities for enhanced shopping and leisure facilities for the town centre".