MCARTHUR GLEN, the parent group of York Designer Outlet, has been named Best Shopping Venue in the UK by people within the leisure industry.

Actress Patsy Kensit presented McArthurGlen's Jenny Woolliams with the Group Leisure Industry award at a recent ceremony. The outlet beat off hundreds of other entries from across the country.

Hundreds of guests attended the Group Leisure Industry awards in Birmingham, which highlighted the very best attractions, venues, destinations and operators within the group travel industry, and are voted for by readers of Group Leisure magazine.

Colin Wilding, general manager at York Designer Outlet, said: "We're absolutely thrilled to be named the best shopping venue in the UK. We feel this award reflects the ongoing hard work and dedication of our team.

"We are particularly pleased that we were nominated by people within the group travel industry - who will highly recommend the centre to their customers."

The accolade comes as latest trading figures for the Fulford centre show that it bucked the national trend by increasing its sales by 3.6 per cent on last year's as a result visitor numbers soaring by more than nine per cent to break the 1.5 million barrier.

This is in spite of latest retail figures for September, which show nationally there was a 0.4 per cent drop in sales from August.

Part of York Designer Outlet's recent success is thought to be down to a sustained marketing campaign which appealed to consumers to enjoy "guilt-free shopping.".

The slogan alluded to permanent discounts of up to 50 per cent on top designer brands, such as Armani Collections and Karen Miller.

With Christmas approaching as well as the opening of a new 10,000 sq ft Next Clearance store within a new £5 million 25,000sq ft redevelopment, "the future looks bright," said Mr Wilding.

He said following the opening of the new West Wing development he planned to announce "some exciting new retailers" opening in the New Year.