Work to convert part of the Buttermarket Centre into a new nine-screen Vue cinema should start in July.

And the town’s existing multiplex, Cineworld, is to open a new Starbucks cafe in its foyer over the next few weeks.

The Vue cinema is being created in what was the top three floors of the department store that was the cornerstone of the Buttermarket Centre since it opened in 1992.

The store was first occupied by Owen Owen, which became Allders which then closed in 2005. From 2006 until 2011 part of the store was occupied by budget retailer TJ Hughes, but since that chain went into administration two years ago no retailers have been interested in the unit.

A spokesman for Buttermarket Centre managers Cornerstone said plans for the remodelled centre had now been agreed and the work was currently out to tender.

He hoped work on the conversion would start in July and that the first phase – the completion of the ground floor – would be completed by January next year.

The complete work, which includes the creation of new cafes and restaurants on the upper floor, should be complete by the summer of 2014.

Meanwhile Starbucks is preparing to open a concession at Cineworld on Cardinal Park.

Job adverts have appeared for staff – and the new cafe at the multiplex is aimed at encouraging cinema visitors to spend longer in the building.

Its opening will come just months after the company opened its new IMAX screen at the 11-screen complex which has been operating since it opened as a Virgin Multiplex in 1998.

Will you visit the new Vue cinema? Write to Your Letters, Ipswich Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or e-mail starletters@archant.co.uk