YATE Shopping Centre has announced several changes to its retailers this week including the addition of a third pound shop in the town and the loss of an independent retailer.

Budget brand 99p Stores is to open in the BeWise premises on South Walk, the Gazette can reveal, creating 35 new jobs.

The single price retailer opens next Thursday, May 24, just yards away from where Poundland opened its doors earlier this month. A Poundwise store is also located on North Walk.

99p Stores boss Hussein Lalani said the company was confident there was demand for its shop in Yate.

He said: "Demand for value has become insatiable and universal. We have found that the so-called more affluent parts of the country want 99p Stores as much as anywhere else – and we are delighted to answer their call."

The new shop has, however, attracted criticism from worried business groups who say two pound stores on the same street is ‘disappointing’.

Graham Bond, chairman of Sodbury and Yate Business Association, said: "It is very disappointing and just seems to be non-productive with two companies competing against each other.

"The primary aim must be to fill empty shops but they need to be with the right type of business. It would be nice to see some more high profile High Street chains moving to Yate. "

Yate Shopping Centre manager Andrew Lowrey said the arrival of 99p Stores was brokered directly by BeWise after the firm decided to concentrate its own business on smaller sized units.

He added: "Consumers are increasingly value-conscious and therefore single price operators are experiencing considerable growth.

"Poundland, for example, proved to be an instant success with over 6,000 customers visiting the new store in the first three days of opening.

"This is great news for our retailers as the shopping centre has seen an increase in footfall around the walkways."

In a blow to independent retailers, Ace Cameras this week confirmed it would not be renewing its lease on its South Walk premises following a drop in demand of its services. The store is due to close on June 2.

But Mr Lowrey said Yate Shopping Centre, which currently has a vacancy rate of 10 per cent, still has a strong future.

He said JD Wetherspoon was opening its new pub, to be called Thorn’s Farm, on South Parade on Tuesday, May 29 and Marks and Spencer was still on course to open a Simply food store on East Walk along with two other national retailers due to be announced shortly.