Intu is opening the Birdhouse Cafe on its Broadmarsh shopping centre in Nottingham, which it said will “breathe new life into the high street and give a fresh boost to independent retailers”.

The cafe will work with locally based suppliers and will also provide retail and events space to other local “small and start-up brands”.

A spokesman for the landlord said that the direct retailing concept was “essentially Intu selling directly to customers” and said the cafe will be run “as a standalone, rent-paying tenant on the site