“Preston deserves better”: firm behind St George’s Shopping Centre defend site & share exciting plans
With St George’s Shopping Centre facing criticism, the firm behind Preston’s main shopping outlet have spoken out about its exciting future.
Over the past year, numerous businesses have pulled out of St George’s Shopping Centre - The Entertainer closed in January 2026, Claire’s in October 2025 and New Look in March 2025 to name a few.
The occupancy issues at the Adnan Group owned site - which have not gone unnoticed amongst local residents- have been joined by facility issues now too.
The escalator that takes people from the first to second floor has been out of order for three weeks and the main lift that takes people from the car park to every level of the shopping mall has been broken for even longer.
Currently only one emergency lift can be used by customers but this creates long queues, particularly when the centre’s closing time dawns.
A disabled toilet on the second floor is also out of order and the pay station metres at the car park are defective -one is broken and one cannot take cash at the moment- again, creating long queues for customers.
Preston resident Jon Metters, a retired surveyor told us: “Since the Adhan Group took it over, St George’s has gone down the pan. Obviously a lot of the shops are now vacant - I think I counted last time, about 20 are vacant.
“We know the retail industry is struggling but if I was a retailer at St George’s Centre, I would be livid because the escalators aren’t working, the lifts aren’t working.
“I just think it’s a terrible state of affairs and I think the only way that I can see that they will take any action is if they get some negative publicity about the state of things- I mean imagine if there was a fire, so many things are affected by a lack of maintenance.
“It’s just a shame, Preston’s a city, it deserves so much better.”
Having approached the Adnan Group with these concerns, we received a comprehensive response from the firm who provide the management of St George's, IM Group Services, so take a look at what they had to say next.
Exciting new additions
Regarding the vacant units, IM Group Services confirmed that two major fashion retailers will be joining the shopping centre by Easter 2026, adding that both these firms - to be revealed next week -are bucking the retail trend with successful openings in other centres and they currently operate a combined estate of 550 retail units in the UK.
Three new operators are also in negotiation to join St George’s: two of these are fashion retailers whilst the third is a perfume operator who operates 14 established outlets in the UK and Far East, with another 49 specialist stores.
IM Group then confirmed that building works will soon be underway to combine a further two existing stores in the centre to create a new unit for a revamped health and beauty store.
The lower elevation of the Friargate side of St George’s, which was previously touted as the leisure, food and beverage led scheme by the previous owners, is also in the process of being remodelled and will feature a new gym operator covering approximately 30,000 sq ft.
Finally the external unit at 2 Friargate, formerly the Money Shop, is under offer to be a high street coffee chain that operates 49 stores already, whilst new tenants are also being lined up for units three and four once refurbishment is complete.
If these potential tenants are all confirmed then over half the current vacant stores will be occupied within the next three months.
The hopeful additions join the already confirmed new Costa site, with the coffee firm renovating the former Patisserie Valerie unit on Friargate to open their second branch in the centre, with IM Group commenting that this “illustrates how well the centre continues to trade despite the current perceptions of trading on the High Street”.
A spokesperson for IM Group Services, who provide the management of the centre, said: “St Georges Shopping Centre remains a key, long term & aspirational centre for the Group.
“Over the next twelve months we have a planned programme of redevelopment to capitalise on the pedestrianisation of the Friargate elevation and to ensure the expansion of retail, food and beverage.
“This will include both investment in the centre itself but also with new brands to continue to evolve the retail experience at the centre.
“With the proposed redevelopment of the Fishergate Centre*, St Georges will continue to offer the dominant shopping experience with Preston City Centre and will remain wholly focussed on improving the retail experience for customers”.
*Fishergate Shopping Centre is earmarked to become offices, whilst another of Preston’s former retail sites, St John’s Shopping Centre is set to be demolished and replaced with a trio of high rise buildings.
And what about those broken facilities?
IM Group also confirmed that the noted facility issues will be fixed imminently.
The relevant parts for the broken escalator have been ordered and are hoped to be fitted within the next fortnight while the parts for the broken lift have too been ordered and will be fitted as soon as possible.
Repairs on the parking metres are due to be finished even sooner - by the end of next week- but even more so than that, St George’s is looking at installing a new, more modern parking system by April with details on that to be released soon.
On the broken disabled toilets, the IM Group stated that the specialist lock had been broken by a deliberate act of vandalism by a member of the public but that this lock has been ordered as well.
Two other disabled WC’s are in full working order with security staff able to provide assistance as to their location.