THE new owners of St George's Shopping Centre have vowed to fill up all the empty stores by Christmas -- and they will rename it The Mall, after their own company name.

The Mall, which owns 17 other centres in the UK, bought St George's this week for £102.5million from Legal and General, well above the £90million asking price.

But it is money well spent according to Ken Ford, chief executive of the London-based firm. He said: "St George's is an excellent purchase and it's irrelevant to me what the asking price was because we paid what we think it's worth."

St George's is at the hub of the city's shopping area.

Following a £23million refurbishment and an expansion of the 420 space multi-storey car park in 2000, the centre increased in size by nearly half.

But despite the improvements, there are still seven empty units in the shopping centre. Mr Ford said: "It's still early days but we have set certain targets and one of these is to fill empty spaces.

"We'll look at entrances and the middle area, where Costa Coffee is, to try and make changes there to open up the space, and hope to bring in more fashion retailers.

"We know a lot of work has been done and money been spent but retail is a very dynamic business and over the next 12 to 24 months, the people of Preston will start to see changes for the better."

It is the first time the centre has changed hands since it was built in 1972.

Carl Speight, city centre manager for Preston, said: "I'm delighted The Mall have come to our city and I'm absolutely convinced empty units in the centre will be filled.

"It's a great thing and will help Preston develop more and more into a thriving shopping city."

Carol Lowde, general manager for the shopping centre, said: "I'm really excited to see The Mall have bought St George's and there is a buzz about the place at the moment.

"I'm looking forward to seeing one of Preston's main shopping centres turn into a vibrant and busy place to go to enjoy your shopping."

The new owners have already held meetings with many of the store bosses to explain their plans.