PLANS to turn the Market Place into a cinema and restaurant hub have been put into action — and Nikki Wilson-Cook cannot wait for them to be completed.

The shopping complex’s new centre manager, who took over the reins at the start of April, believes the changes are exactly what the town centre needs to compete with the likes of the Trafford Centre.

Mrs Wilson-Cook is no stranger to Bolton. She was store manager at Debenhams for three years before taking on the challenge of revamping the Market Place into what she calls “the North West’s version of Covent Garden”.

As well as the transformation of the Victorian vaults of the centre into restaurants, bars and shops, Moorgarth, which owns the Market Place, has also received permission to build a new nine-screen cinema within the current car park.

Mrs Wilson-Cook, aged 44, said: “It was the vaults that interested me the most about working here.

“I love a challenge and you can’t get much bigger than this.

“I spoke to Tim Vaughan, the chief executive at Moorgarth, and straight away, I thought this could be the North West’s version of Covent Garden. When they showed me the plans for the vaults I thought, ‘I have to do this’.

“I’m not new to Bolton. I was the store manager at Debenhams here for three years so I know the town and thought this was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.

“I think it’s just the thing that the town needs to get back to where it used to be.

“It’s about creating something different.

“The cinema concept will be about showing films for the community with maybe live opera shows or an orchestra in the intervals.

“More like the Cornerhouse in Manchester as opposed to an Odeon.

“It’s about choice — and we have got to bring that choice back to Bolton.

People drive to the Trafford Centre because they can spend all day there. Everything is all under one roof with plenty of parking — plus it’s just off the motorway.

“Shopping makes you feel good. It’s a leisure activity and what we have got to do is to give people another reason to stay here longer. That’s why we have the plans in place for the restaurants and the cinema.”

Hailing from a hard-working family, Preston-born Nikki learned from the best.

Both her parents, Judith, aged 66, and Pat, aged 62, worked in business, and she would work at her mum’s sandwich shop from an early age.

She said: “My parents put me in good stead for a career in business. They always told me to work hard. My mum had her own business running sandwich bars and I worked for her from a young age. My dad worked for the British Nuclear Fuels based in Lea Town.

“I was the first member of my family to go to college where I studied business studies.

“There was a brand new Debenhams that had opened up near where I lived and I could see myself running it.

“I applied for an A level training scheme and got on to it and ended up working there for 12 months.

"Then I got promoted to Stirling in Scotland when I was 19 and was older than most of the people I was managing.

“I ended up working for 17 different Debenhams stores over the course of 26 years, from Inverness to Coventry, and including Bolton where I was for three years.

“So the Market Place is only my second job.

“I like to troubleshoot, so if there were any problems at any of the stores I’d go there and sort them out.”

Mrs Wilson-Cook, who has been married to her husband for 20 years, reveals she has a competitive side which has been with her since childhood.

She said: “My husband works in Preston as a maintenance manager at Baxi Heating.

“We met on a badminton court. He came to the club where I used to play and we got on well together.

"He seemed like a really good guy — although I wasn’t quite as impressed with his badminton skills.

“I used to play a lot of sport when I was younger so I guess you could say I have always been competitive. I did netball, hockey, gymnastics, badminton and the 100-metre sprint.

“Despite this I was quite jealous of my sister because she could draw anything. She was so creative.

"You could give her anything to draw and she’d do it perfectly. We are so different but we get on fantastically well.

“I feel lucky that I have such a close family network — because at the end of your working day, going home to them is what matters.”