COMPANY bosses behind Keighley’s long-awaited £30 million Worth Valley Shopping Centre are close to signing Next for their flagship store.

Stainsby Grange has been working with the high street clothing giant for several months on the design of the two-storey shop in East Parade.

Once contracts have been signed, a number of other national chains are expected to complete deals for the planned centre’s remaining shop units.

Popular restaurant chain Frankie & Benny’s has already signed up for one of the six food outlets to serve customers for the eight stores and on-site eight-screen cinema.

Stainsby Grange development director, David Williams, said: “The situation with Next is it has agreed the design for the flagship store, but the transaction is still in legal hands.

“Signing a flagship store that is a huge brand will instil confidence in the other companies, who are in detailed negotiations with the solicitors. Some of them might be on the verge of signing.

“Frankie and Benny’s is signed up and we have names in the frame for most of the food outlets.”

News of significant progress on the shopping centre project – after several months of silence – has been hailed as a shot in the arm for the local economy.

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Keighley MP Kris Hopkins said: “The scheme will deliver another major boost to the town’s infrastructure.

“It will significantly increase the likelihood of other firms choosing Keighley as their ideal location for relocation or expansion as the economy continues to pick up.

“The quality of the names being mentioned as likely tenants serves as a compliment to the efforts of the developers who have worked hard to get the project to this stage.”

District councillor Andrew Mallinson, a member of Keighley Town Centre Association, described the news as “absolutely fantastic”.

He added: “This shows confidence in the town. It’s going to be an extremely popular retail destination.

“It will be a massive wave that sends ripples across the town. People who come to visit the centre will explore the rest of Keighley.”

The 145,000 square-foot Worth Valley Shopping Centre will occupy a five-acre site between East Parade and the River Worth, formerly occupied by nine companies whose premises have now been demolished. It will have a 350-space car park.

Bradford Council gave planning permission for the complex in May 2012, but construction work has been on hold while Stainsby Grange continued the complex web of negotiations with potential tenants.

A Next deal would see two branches of the clothing chain in central Keighley. The existing Next store is in the nearby Airedale Shopping Centre.

Airedale Centre manager Steve Seymour said Next had last year renewed the lease on its existing store in Queensway for the next ten years.

He said: “It’s a commitment to the future. Next has seen the potential in Keighley. It believes the town can sustain two stores.”

Keighley Mayor, Cllr Graham Mitchell, said it was good to hear the project is progressing.

But he added: “We must press the district council to push on with the planned one-way system in the town centre. It will become essential when the Worth Valley Shopping Centre is open.”