KINGSGATE BOSS JONATHAN HARDY TO GIVE TALK AT HUDDERSFIELD CIVIC SOCIETY ABOUT KINGSGATE LEISURE DEVELOPMENT

Kingsgate shopping centre manager Jonathan Hardy is to give a talk about its ongoing redevelopment.

The former House of Fraser store has been stripped out and is going to be turned into a leisure complex including a six-screen cinema operated by The Light.

There will be six cinema screens and 10 bowling lanes alongside what is described as “a variety of other leisure activities and food offerings” which will be revealed in the lead up to the opening scheduled for early autumn 2024.

It’s the largest investment in the town centre since Kingsgate opened 21 years ago.

Jonathan will reflect on how and why Huddersfield’s premier retail venue came into existence, the changing landscape of town centre retailing over the years and the challenges faced post Covid, Brexit and the cost of living crisis.

The talk, organised by Huddersfield Civic Society, will be at 7pm on Thursday, September 7 at New North Road Baptist Church on New North Parade in Huddersfield town centre.

Entry is free to Huddersfield Civic Society members with non-members asked for a donation of £5.

Those attending and wishing to become an HCS member will be given the opportunity to join for an extra £5 on the night.

Places needed to be booked through Eventbrite at https://bit.ly/Kingsgate21years

Meanwhile, the Kingsgate Centre has released the latest images of work on the roof as an extra storey is added.

The images are courtesy of Virtual Huddersfield, which is charting progress of the work through a weekly 30-second time-lapse video posted on its social media channels.

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Huddersfield Town’s B team kicked off their Central League campaign in style with a comprehensive 4-0 win over Lincoln City this afternoon. Chris Maxwell, Jaheim Headley, Rarmani Edmonds-Green, Yuta Nakayama, Ben Jackson, Scott High, Kyle Hudlin, Pat Jones and Kian Harratt were among the players given run-outs at the Millers Oils High Performance Complex.

Town established a two-goal lead at half-time. Midfielder Josh Austerfield and Ben Jackson were on target.

Academy graduate Jones made way for Aaron Rowe at the interval. Town boss Neil Warnock has spoken of the importance in the past of managing the winger’s workload following a string of injury problems.

Nakayama took centre stage after the break. The Japan international bagged a double to send a timely reminder to Warnock of his capabilities.

The 26-year-old, an unused substitute in Saturday’s draw at Middlesbrough, has yet to feature in the Championship this term. His only competitive outing since returning to action following a lengthy spell on the sidelines due to injury came against Boro in the Carabao Cup earlier this month.

Kieran Phillips was also given game time after recovering from a minor knock. The striker replaced Harratt in the second half and got over half an hour under his belt.

Phillips, who enjoyed a productive loan spell at Morecambe during the 2022/23 campaign, almost grabbed a fifth goal for Town late on but he struck the post with a header. Speaking at his press conference last week, Warnock said: “He [Phillips] is an unlucky lad. I did say to him ‘we’re a bit short on strikers so let me see what you can do’.

“We’ll just have to see – obviously if he’s injured, he’s not going to go out anywhere, so he’ll have a few months to show me what he can do really.”