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Second Gloucester development progresses

Isle of Man resident John Whittaker has his sights set on a £60million shopping and leisure development in Gloucester.

His company, the Peel Group, is to build restaurants, a cinema, and shops to create 550 new jobs in the city.

The firm already has a large development in Gloucester, known as the Peel Centre, but wants to build a new leisure quarter, called The Quayside.

Work could start early next year, with the centre opening by winter 2013.

The Peel Group's billionaire chairman John Whittaker, who lives in Malew, flew over the city in a helicopter on his way from the Isle of Man and decided to go ahead with the project.

His company has already spent more than £200 million in Gloucester when it built a quayside shopping centre there two years ago.

The city's MP and local council are backing the latest scheme, and the firm is putting on exhibitions to let local people see the plans.

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