Town centre development of indoor shopping malls in major towns and cities. Examples include the Manchester Arndale Centre, the St. James Centre in Edinburgh and the Bullring Centre in Birmingham. They tended to be constructed in a Brutalist or Modernist fashion reflecting the architectural styles of the period. During the Thatcher government of the 1980s, a change in planning policy allowed competing out-of-town shopping and leisure centres to be developed. Examples include the Metro Centre in Gateshead, the Merry Hill Shopping Centre in Dudley, and the Gyle Centre in Edinburgh. Developments of this type have, in a number of places, resulted in
Telford Shopping Centre million per annum. The centre is located on a site, containing over 175 stores. The Centre's catchment population is over 3 million people. The term Telford Town Centre is often used to refer to the shopping centre alone, but the town centre also encompasses the town park and surrounding areas of central Telford. The centre's logo features The Iron Bridge, of nearby Ironbridge, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 2008 the centre was ranked as 14th best in the country by CACI. The shopping centre was opened in 1973 and longest standing retailers in the shopping centre are Boots and