Merry Hill

Merry Hill may refer to:

Merry Hill Shopping Centre

Merry Hill (branded as Intu Merry Hill) is a shopping centre in Brierley Hill near Dudley, West Midlands, England. It was developed between 1985 and 1990, with several expansion and renovation projects taking place since. The original developers and owners were Richardson Developments but the Centre has had a number of other owners including Chelsfield and Mountleigh. The current owners are Intu and QIC. It was built by Tarmac Construction.

Merry Hill is home to over 250 shops, retail park, cinema and an Eat Central food hall including Pizza Express and Nandos with ten thousand car parking spaces. Adjacent to the main shopping site is The Waterfront, which accommodates offices for HM Revenue and Customs amongst others, and has a marina area providing space for a number of bars and restaurants.

The Dudley No.1 Canal passes though the adjacent Waterfront site and high above the edge of the shopping centre, before descending Delph Locks.

History

Construction

In the 1980s, the Government created a number of enterprise zones which gave incentives to firms wishing to set up business in areas which had been affected by a downturn in the manufacturing industry. The Brierley Hill area had suffered the loss of the Round Oak Steelworks, and it was hoped that other manufacturers could be encouraged to move into the area. Incentives included relaxed planning rules and a ten-year period exempt from business rates. Developers saw the opportunity to take advantage of lack of restrictions by making a shopping centre, rather than industrial units originally envisaged as the mainstay of the Enterprise Zone.