FORTY more shops and restaurants are set for Gloucester Quays Designer Outlet as part of an expansion of the site.

One year after fashion guru Gok Wan opened it up with 39 stores, 60 units are now occupied and more high-end retailers are set to follow.

Although bosses are tight-lipped on the new brands they’re hoping to tempt high quality retailers.

The first 20 new shops and restaurants are part of phase one of the Quays expansion, and talks with retailers will take place between now and spring 2011 to get them on deals.

The next 20 retailers will arrive under phase two, of which negotiations will start the following year.

News of more stores comes as the £400million development in the High Orchard area of Gloucester Docks celebrates its first birthday today.

Lindsey Ashworth, of Peel Holdings, which owns the centre along with British Waterways, said: "Next spring is a point where some high-end fashion retailers may look at how good the Quays is. The names we have in mind act as a big pull from further afield.

"We have stores like Gap, Next, M&S and others which are very important to us and pull people in but we are looking at more high end for the future."

Mr Ashworth said he hoped more food outlets would be coming.

"We have Nando’s and Pizza Express, but we want more and more variety. Quality is important though."

Gloucester Quays Designer Outlet was first mooted in 2002 and given the go-ahead as part of the wider Docks redevelopment in June 2006 by the office of then-Deputy PM John Prescott.

Former Gloucester Labour MP Parmjit Dhanda, wrote to his then-Government colleagues in 2005 with the Gloucester Heritage Urban Regeneration Company (GHURC) to prevent it stalling in the planning system.

"When I look back on my nine years at the helm, this is one of our achievements that I’m most proud of," said Mr Dhanda..

"It was tough doing the deal but the consequences of the deal for the whole area were over 1,000 local jobs. The investment an jobs will stand Gloucester in good stead for the future."

There were many doubters who feared the outlet would take trade from Gloucester city centre and Cheltenham. But it appears the opposite is true. King’s Walk shopping centre saw a three per cent rise in footfall from April 2009 to April 2010.

And a spokeswoman for Cheltenham, Regent Arcade’s said the centre was no threat.

Lindsay Jones, said: "There was obviously an initial interest in it when it opened but the profile of the shops is very different to the Regent Arcade."

Mark Owen, chairman of Marketing Gloucester and the city’s branch of the Federation of Small Businesses, said patience is needed for the city to get what it deserves.

He said: "We need to respect our heritage and celebrate our history, but we need to remember what was there beforehand. Not just there but people forget what St Oswald’s Park was like, or the old King’s Square. There is still work to be done but people must remember it’s a work in progress."

City council leader Paul James said quality is key, adding: "These outlet centres take several years to establish fully. The company running it has made it very clear they want to make sure they get the right quality, rather than filling it up for the sake of filling it up."

Traders are delighted with their first year at the outlet.

James Lock, Thorntons Store Manager at Gloucester Quays, said: "We’ve had a fantastic first year at Gloucester Quays.

"We’re always busy doing chocolate tastings, demonstrations and competitions and we plan to do even more things like this over the coming year."

Source : www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk, 21 may 2010