THREE lecturers at the University of Northumbria will present a key session at a major retail industry conference to be held in Glasgow from November 1 to 3.

The lecturers, from the University's School of the Built Environment, have been asked to facilitate a workshop on how to achieve the most attractive mix of tenants within a shopping centre for the British Council of Shopping Centres 2000 Conference and Retail Showcase.

As part of that they will also present the results of a special research project they have undertaken funded by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors Education Trust.

The BCSC Conference regularly attracts more than 1,200 participants from the retail, property and property support sectors along with a world-wide panel of conference speakers including representatives from internationally known retail chains, property developers and major landlords.

Mary Lou Downie, Cheryl Williamson and Peter Fisher will present their findings during their afternoon conference session on November 2. The session is entitled "Is your Tenant Mix Past Its Sell-By Date?".

Mary Lou Downie, who will chair the session, comments:

"Shopping and fashion change constantly. Shopping centres must be flexible enough to meet this change and be able to accommodate expanding retailers like Mango and Zara and effectively recycle the space by declining retailers like C&A."

Cheryl Williamson says that the mix of tenants in shopping centres has a profound effect on UK shoppers.

She added: "Getting the right mix of stores in a shopping centre can make a serious difference to the level of success and profit for that location. It's just like baking a cake. Get the mix right and everybody enjoys it and wants more, get it wrong and people may take a bite but it's unlikely they'll be back for seconds.