there is still a major difference in levels of natural light between the original malls and the northern extension, where the designers sought to maximise it. Recent developments By the late 1990s, the centre was no longer owned by the Arndale Property Trust. In the early 21st century the centre was jointly owned by M&G Real Estate and Intu Group until June 2020, when the bankrupt Intu went into administration. With the large-scale redevelopment of the centre since the 1996 bombing, it has a retail floorspace of , making it Europe's largest city-centre shopping mall, a record it has held continuously since construction apart from a brief spell during the northern redevelopment when the title was held by the Birmingham Bullring. As part of the renovation, most of the tiles have been removed and replaced by sandstone and glass cladding. Manchester Arndale houses the largest Next store, with the largest glass store frontage in the UK, and also the largest Office Shoe store outside London as of April 2010. In August 2015 the Arndale announced the launch of its first-ever Charity Star initiative, with the centre fundraising for a chosen charity for one whole year. Food court Like many large shopping malls, Manchester Arndale has a food court. The Food-Chain, opened as Voyagers in 1991, is an 800-seat food court situated on the second floor above the far south-west tip of the centre. It can be reached by an escalator encased in glass from Market Street, by a lift accessed from the outside of Boots, and from the first floor at the south-western tip of the centre close to Argos and the first-floor entrance to Boots. Transport In the 1970s, plans to construct an underground railway station appeared in the Picc-Vic tunnel scheme. Royal Exchange station was planned to be built underneath Cross Street to serve both the Arndale and the Royal Exchange. The scheme was cancelled but a subterranean void was constructed beneath the centre to enable the future addition of an underground station. Today the Manchester Arndale is served by three stations on the Manchester Metrolink tram system, , and Shudehill Interchange, which is also a bus station. See also List of shopping malls by country Trafford Centre - Manchester's out of town shopping centre in nearby Trafford References Bibliography External links Manchester Arndale Centre home page Manchester Arndale Market home page for Manchester Arndale's Market Capital Shopping