TK Maxx – the global fashion, home and gift retail chain – has exchanged to take a unit at the new retail and leisure development, The Crescent in Hinckley.

The company, which has 280 stores in the UK and Ireland, has signed up to take a 20,000 sq ft unit at the scheme and will become The Crescent’s largest fashion retailer.

The development, which includes a Sainsbury’s supermarket, a 540-space car-park and a five-screen Cineworld cinema, opens in the autumn of this year and TK Maxx will follow soon after.

Tony Baker, of the Tin Hat Partnership – the developer behind the Crescent Hinckley, said it was a great start in the letting activity on the scheme and that a range of national brands were showing strong interest.

He said: “We are very pleased to have signed up TK Maxx. It is a retailer that the people of Hinckley have said they want to see in the town and I am delighted that the Crescent will be delivering that.

“It is an international name and this gives us an excellent platform to build on in attracting other retailers and occupiers here. We have very strong interest from a diverse mix of occupiers – from retail to restaurants – and will have further positive announcements very soon.”

Rob Williams, head of retail agency and development at Strutt & Parker, who advise Tin Hat Partnership, said: “The Crescent is one of five shopping centres scheduled to open throughout the UK this year and it is encouraging to see that development has returned to this scale.  The collaboration between Tin Hat, the council and Osprey has been essential in delivering this key regeneration project for Hinckley and has ensured that it was well placed to benefit from renewed retailer confidence.”

Bill Cullen, Deputy Chief Executive of Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council, said: “I am delighted to welcome TK Maxx to Hinckley. This retailer featured on our residents' wish list for The Crescent development which along with Sainsbury’s, the multi-screen cinema and other shops and family restaurants will be a popular draw for shoppers and visitors to Hinckley, creating new jobs and boosting prosperity for the whole town.”

TK Maxx delivers great value on ever-changing selections of brand name and designer products at prices up to 60 per cent less than the RRP and at a significant discount to the prices in a department store or on the high street.

It originated in the USA in 1976 as TJ Maxx before opening its first TK Maxx store in the UK in Bristol in 1994.

Strutt & Parker is appointed by Tin Hat Partnership to provide development and agency advice; TK Maxx was unrepresented.