The best part of the whole development, though, has to be the space-age Selfridge's store. It looks fantastic from the outside and doesn't disappoint on the inside. It pushes the London Selfridge's pretty close as my favourite department store.

It's a shopper's paradise. Make sure you take the credit cards, though - it could be costly!

The old Bullring opened in May 1964 was a masterpiece of ‘60s architecture, with great concrete blocks encircled by miles of ring-roads it was everything that the post-war city-planners dreamed of and did much to drag Birmingham out of the depression, but by the late 80s it had become an outdated eyesore. Demolition of this behemoth began on the 30th June 2000 and the new Bullring with its 110,000 sq. meters of shop floor space (roughly equivalent to the area of 26 football pitches) opened to great fanfare on 4th September 2003.

Three tall carbon fibre Light Wands on the corner of New Street and High Street act as beacons drawing you into the heart of architects Benoy’s confused design, which restores the city’s old street plan, obliterated by the 60s construction, and where you will find sculptor Laurence Broderick’s five-tonne bronze bull, ancient Brummie tradition dating back to, well 4th September 2003, says that rubbing the bulls nose will bring good luck.

The three levels of brand-name shops are anchored at either end by two massive department stores, the futuristic design of Selfridges with its curious range of stylish clothing and furnishings and the modern glass design of Debenhams, with it’s more staid styles. In between these two extremes the architects play with form and feature and work their way around the 18th century church to create a mess of clashing styles that can be taxing on the eye.

The lower floor combines a variety of high street shops including Athena and the quaint Teddy Bear Factory and a collection of outdoor dining opportunities crowded around Gross Max’s modernistic water features in the courtyard out front, including EAT and the Indian themed Tiffin Bites. The shops on the middle floor are aimed at the youth market, with a variety of younger fashion stores including Mango and FCUK. Things are taken up a level, quite literally, on the top floor with a variety of aspirational fashion stores including Lacoste and Swarovski.

Around the back of the massive building the markets too survive with an outdoor market specialising in fresh fruit and vegetables and two new indoor markets, one selling meat and fish and the other packed with all sorts of bargain stalls, this is where Brum truly comes to life.

This development has helped to re-establish Birmingham as one of the premier shopping centres in England and makes a wonderful centrepiece for the city’s retail centre. While the Bullring may not be quite reason enough on its own for you to visit Birmingham, its central location makes it an attraction not to be missed when you do visit.