Dame Joanna Lumley opens £31m Five Valleys in Stroud as Home of Vintage marketplace is unveiled

24 April 2026

Dame Joanna Lumley OBE has officially opened the Five Valleys Shopping Centre in Stroud, unveiling its final development – The Home of Vintage, the region’s largest vintage hall. The ceremony marks the culmination of an eight-year, £31 million regeneration by Yorkshire-based Dransfield Properties Ltd.

Dransfield Properties acquired the failing Merrywalks Centre in June 2018 and has since transformed the site into a mixed-use destination.

The redevelopment has rebuilt the King Street frontage, created a new upper mall, delivered residential apartments, introduced an indoor market and food hall, and added a £6.5 million NHS medical practice, opened by HRH The Princess Royal in March 2023. Stroud’s new town library sits alongside the centre, and around 85 per cent of Five Valleys traders are local independent businesses.

Speaking at the opening, Mark Dransfield, Chairman of Dransfield Properties, said: “We are incredibly proud to have shared this moment with Dame Joanna, marking such an important milestone. We have been working on town centres for 32 years and this is our best achievement so far. We’ve always believed in putting town centres first – they are the heartbeat of a community. We want to create places where people can meet, connect and spend time together, and that is exactly what we have created at Five Valleys.”

Dame Joanna spent four hours at the centre, meeting business owners, shoppers and the development team behind the project. She praised the vision for the new town centre and said she “simply adored” Stroud and the concept of The Home of Vintage.

Dame Joanna said: ““I love seeing places that once stood here – buildings that once housed Poundland and Woolworths – being transformed into something completely different. They haven’t lost their identity, they’ve been reimagined, and that is really something special.”

Styled with colourful shutters and retro-inspired décor, The Home of Vintage brings together artists, makers, booksellers, home décor specialists, craftspeople and pre-loved fashion traders. A first phase opened in December 2024 and has already built a strong local following. This week’s ceremony revealed the full line-up of traders and completes Five Valleys’ redevelopment programme.

Dransfield Properties gave evidence to the House of Lords Select Committee inquiry into town-centre regeneration in 2024. Five Valleys is cited by the company as practical evidence of that work - a privately funded, mixed-use town centre anchored by healthcare, library services, leisure, independent retail and residential uses, rather than a single traditional retail anchor.

Stroud was named The Sunday Times Best Place to Live in the UK in 2021. The transformation of Merrywalks into Five Valleys has been delivered while the centre has remained open and trading throughout.

Notes to Editors

Five Valleys is located on King Street, Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL5 1RR
Dransfield Properties Ltd is a privately owned, Yorkshire-based property investment and development company with a portfolio of town-centre schemes including Fox Valley (Sheffield), Sanderson Arcade (Morpeth), Marshall’s Yard (Gainsborough) and Market Cross (Selby)
Total investment in Five Valleys since acquisition: £31 million
Local independent businesses account for approximately 85% of traders
Civic and community uses include the Five Valleys Medical Practice, Stroud’s new town library and the Five Valleys Food Hall
Leisure tenants include Vue Cinema and Stroud Bowl, which hosts national and international ten-pin bowling competitions
The centre was renamed from Merrywalks to Five Valleys in November 2018, with the new name chosen by three local primary-school children

For further information, contact:

Public Relations Department, Dransfield Properties Ltd
Tel: 01226 360644
Email: pr@dransfield.co.uk