John Lewis has confirmed its anchor role in two of the UK's biggest retail regeneration schemes. It has now agreed heads of terms with Grosvenor to anchor the Paradise Street scheme in Liverpool, and with Hammerson to anchor the New Retail Quarter in Sheffield.

In Liverpool, John Lewis plans to relocate from the George Henry Lee store in Basnett Street in 2007. The Sheffield store is expected to open in 2009.

Managing director Luke Mayhew said: 'These multi-million-pound investments demonstrate our commitment to the regeneration of two city centres where we have traded very successfully over many years. Both schemes are imaginative and will improve the retail offer in the region.'

- A redesign of the Grand Arcade project in Cambridge, where John Lewis is the anchor tenant, is understood to have shortened the development period by two years. Developers Grosvenor and USS expect John Lewis to begin trading from its new store in 2006.