The Rock welcomes two million visitors

The Rock in Bury said it has reached the two million-visitor mark since opening on 16 July.

Flagship retailers at The Rock include anchor stores Debenhams and Marks & Spencer, alongside Next, River Island, Oasis, Primark, JD Sports, newly opened menswear store Duffer, and independent stores SoleFood and women's boutique Marabella.

David Laycock, centre director for The Rock, said: "In the lead-up to launch, I stated the vision for The Rock as being akin to taking a little bit of Manhattan and putting it into a Lancashire town and I believe we are starting to do that. By staging innovative and creative events that inspire and excite shoppers to come to The Rock and to stay on into the evening to either dine or to relax, we are helping to establish a cosmopolitan day and evening economy for the town."

Hayden Tucker, store manager for TopShop and TopMan at The Rock, added: "Since opening at The Rock, we have witnessed TopShop sales figures go up by 150 per cent on the previous year and TopMan is even greater, up 250 per cent on last year. This is down to increasing our store size by three times than the previous store in Bury, its location and The Rock attracting customers from a wider region."

A new Flaming Dragon Chinese restaurant is also scheduled to open at The Rock later in the month.

The Rock is owned by HBOS and managed by Hammerson and contains more than 600,000 sq ft of retail. The scheme was designed by BDP and built by Laing O'Rourke.