Yahoo Finance £600m Westfield London extension shows "belief" in capital
Bosses at Westfield on Tuesday declared they believe in the “resilience of London” despite Brexit, as they opened the first phase of a £600 million expansion at the White City estate.
The Westfield London mall unveiled 740,000 square feet of new space at the complex it opened 10 years ago. That brings the size of the enlarged site to 2.6 million square feet — equivalent to almost two Shard skyscrapers.
Figures show Westfield London has notched up sales of £8.6 billion and welcomed nearly 250 million visitors since it opened in 2008.
The centre has helped lead the transformation of White City, which was dominated by the sprawling former headquarters of the BBC. The area will soon have thousands of new homes and a Soho House private members’ club.
Westfield London has recruited an A-list line-up to promote its new expansion, with James Corden, Nigella Lawson, Adwoa Aboah and Miss Piggy fronting its advertising campaign.
They will help promote the brands opening this week, including cosmetics firm SpaceNK and fashion retailers Adidas and H&M. Customers can also flock to a new John Lewis branch.
In total there is space for 90 store openings, which will bring total shop and restaurant numbers to 450. Some 8,000 new jobs are being created — with first choice given to local people.
Later in the year Westfield London will welcome Europe’s largest Japanese foodhall Ichiba, mini-golf operator Puttshack, Primark and beauty firms Blink Brow Bar and Molton Brown. Existing tenants such as Monsoon, Ugg and Cath Kidston have agreed to open bigger shops within the extension.
Westfield London’s investment in the capital comes despite a tough retail market, with a number of high street brands facing higher business rates, online competition and customers being squeezed by higher inflation.
There have also been concerns that the Brexit vote could cause some retailers to freeze or scrap expansion plans.
Peter Miller, chief operating officer of Westfield UK & Europe, told the Evening Standard: “We believe in the resilience of London and with our expansion we are creating west London’s best retail, dining and leisure destination.”
Retail property specialist James Ebel of Harper Dennis Hobbs forecast more brands would be attracted to the area. He said: “There is a wave of international retailers looking to come to London.”
Westfield London’s growth is part of a wider £8 billion regeneration programme in White City, which includes the redevelopment of the old BBC TV Centre into flats, restaurants and a Soho House private members’ club and hotel, and a project by housebuilder Berkeley to create 1,477 new homes and eight acres of parkland and open space.
