In which year did the Trafford Centre, a shopping centre in England, open?

The Trafford Centre is a large indoor shopping centre and entertainment complex in Urmston, Greater Manchester, England. It opened in 1998 and is third largest in the United Kingdom by retail space.

Originally developed by the Peel Group, the Trafford Centre was sold to Capital Shopping Centres, later to become Intu, in 2011 for £1.65 billion; it set a record as the costliest single property sale in British history.

The battle to obtain permission to build the centre was amongst the longest and most expensive in United Kingdom planning history. As of 2011, the Trafford Centre had Europe's largest food court and the UK's busiest cinema.

John Whittaker (chairman of the Peel Group) chose a lavish, unorthodox style seeking to avoid the centre rapidly appearing dated and stale, a problem many shopping centres were susceptible to. Although the extravagant Rococo and Baroque design may be viewed as gaudy, he argued the prospect of the shopping centre rapidly ageing was mitigated and long-term less renovation work would be required.