'Why I want to put Walsall's Saddlers Shopping Centre at the heart of the Black Country'

Melvin Glasby, who used to run the Queen's Square shopping centre in West Bromwich, has laid out his vision for the store after taking the reins back in April.

He said he wants to work closely with Walsall residents and make sure the centre has a diverse range of outlets.

There are two vacant units at the centre – one of which is under offer from an unnamed company.

Mr Glasby said: "I have been in centre management for 28 years. I have been all over the county and my last centre Queen's Square in West Bromwich, I took that through a £10 million refurbishment and felt it was the right time to move on. This one came up and I am pleased to be here.

"Whilst I was at Queen's Square I was also the chair of the West Bromwich BID for the town centre and we put that in place taking it from a partnership board to a full-blown business improvement district. But I have since resigned from the BID board as it is a conflict of interest with it being West Bromwich.

"I was approached by the owners and managers of the centre to take on the role. I want to get involved with the local community and the town to increase footfall to the town."

Speaking on Walsall and how he intends to get the store to reach his ambition, Mr Glasby added: "That's my aspirations, that's the owners aspirations, I want this shopping centre to be the heart of the Black Country, the premier shopping centre.

"We have core customers who are based in the area but we would like to encourage other members of the public from further afield up here to see what the offer is.

"Walsall is on the up, the night-time economy is on the up, it is an excellent place to visit. The town has got a lot happening and has had a lot of money spent on it

. The shopping centre is the heart of the community and I feel this shopping centre is the heart of Walsall, it is the largest centre. Yes there are other shopping centres around but they are not on the same scale as this one.

"I am hoping that we can make the Saddlers the heart of Walsall."

Mr Glasby, who has a home in Cheshire but is looking to relocate to Walsall, also spoke on the importance of tenant mix. He said: "Tenant mix is very important to any shopping centre to enable you to give the members of the public what they want. You need to get into the community to find out what customers require and what they want to see.

"Then take that forward and put it into place to make sure the right offer is available for everybody."