I LIKE Nottingham for shopping and eating, but I LOVE Leicester!
Nottingham has currently got a lot of empty shops, even though the local retailers don't seem to have noticed!
http://www.thisisnott...199-detail/story.html
Leicester has possibly the best market in the country:
http://www.leicestermarket.co.uk/
with loads of good pubs. (The multi-ethnic nature of Leicester means that there's no shortage of good restaurants either!)
The indoor shopping centres have all the usual High street names but there are lots of side streets where you'll find small independent traders.
Lots of information here:
http://www.visitleicester.co.uk/
Chris