THE Arndale Centre in Accrington has changed hands in a £17 million deal.

The new owners are leading property investment company PillarCaisse.

PillarCaisse has acquired the head lease from P&O Shopping Centres to add to the freehold it bought from Hyndburn Council for £1.4 million last August.

Shopping centre manager David Jones said it was business as usual, except he was now looking after the Arndale full-time instead of part-time.

Previously he shuttled between Accrington and a P&O shopping centre in Manchester. All ten Arndale staff, including deputy manager Liz Caddy, security and cleaning staff have transferred across.

Mr Jones said: "As far as I can see we will carry on as before.

"I'm not aware of any plans for changes in the immediate future and things can only improve when the development of the market goes ahead," he added.

There is planning permission to extend the Arndale with three small units and 30 or so rent reviews during this year.

PillarCaisse is a joint venture between Pillar Property Investments PLC and SITQ, the Canadian pension fund.

It has acquired both Accrington and the Cross Gates Centre, Leeds, from P&O Shopping Centres in an off-market deal for a total of £37 million.

The two schemes bring the total number of shopping centres in the PillarCaisse portfolio to eight, with a total capital value of around £200 million.

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