Building contractors William Skinner & Son have completed their biggest single contract to date worth £2m, forming part of the £8m refurbishment programme at the Forge Shopping Centre in the East End of Glasgow.

Works by the Ayrshire and Cambridgeshire based firm included the installation of new ceilings and a complete overhaul of the existing ground floor.

Working on this East End shopping centre coincides with the regeneration of this part of the city and the up and coming 2014 Commonwealth Games.

"We at Skinners partnered with the Belfast Office Properties design team to deliver a scheme for the shopping centre that both created an ambience for the customers of the Forge and lifted the centre into the 21st century.

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"The project was handled by our project manager Ian Heathcote, who had recently completed the new Aldi store in the High Street of Glasgow."

An exciting modern environment has been created in the Forge Shopping Centre, with full architecturally designed coffer ceilings, bespoke feature lighting fixtures, white quartz stone feature pilasters and new large format tiling to the entire Mall.

The Forge's importance as a key shopping destination for customers in the East End of Glasgow is reflected in the fact that it regularly draws nearly eight million visitors per annum to its eighty-eight outlets.

The Forge is a fully enclosed retail environment with approximately 450,000sq.ft of retail accommodation and car parking spaces for 1,480 vehicles. The Centre was originally constructed in 1987, extended in 2003 and bought by Belfast Office Properties in 2006.

(GK/JM)