EXCLUSIVE: Work on the ageing Whitgift Centre might now not begin before 2028, while Westfield are angling for a public subsidy of at least £100m. Today, as two shops opened on the high street, STEVEN DOWNES took a place at the end of the queue
Goody bag: his freebies duly secured, Mayor Perry sets off to claim the credit in a council-funded video
They were queuing down the street on North End this afternoon to get a first glimpse inside Miniso, which describes itself as a “design-led lifestyle brand”, and is one of the first two “kiosks” to be opened in the old Allders building.
Those eager Croydon shoppers in that queue are living, breathing proof that bribery always works.
The first 200 customers today who spent a minimum of £5 were promised a “special goody bag” valued at £25. Hence security on the door, operating what might be described as a one-in, one-out policy. Goodness knows where they got that idea from.
So that’s a five-grand promotions budget blown in a couple of hours. Plus a few quid extra on what they called an “exciting… live drummer performance”. Personally, I’d have paid my own money to witness a dead drummer performance, if it gave us all five more minutes of Keith Moon or Rick Buckler…
Of course, when I say “they were queuing”, I don’t mean Jason Perry, the failed Mayor of Croydon. Perry’s far too important for queues. Or for people.
Perry had breezed into the new store and walked away with a very special goody bag, as you’d expect for someone as important as he obviously thinks he is. Whether he spent the required fiver, or whether he received £25-worth of goods, we’ll just have to wait until he files his next declarations at the Town Hall.
Queuing down the street: bribery works every time, as Miniso offered £25 goody bags on opening day today, as well as a ‘live drummer’ (as opposed to a dead one)
When iC arrived on North End, Perry was wandering around looking more gormless than usual, and just a little lost.
“What do you want me to say?” the £84,000 per year Mayor was clearly overheard to say to his minder, who might have been from Westfield’s public relations firm, or from Croydon BID – both organisations have Perry firmly in their pocket; the part-time Mayor is even on the board of the BID.
Or the assistant might have been another council employee, no doubt paid handsomely out of public money to make Perry look good and big-up the schemes of private companies, because that’s how our local government system has become subservient to Westfield, ever since Perry and his Tory mates welcomed them into this borough in 2012.
Westfield, now part of Paris-based Unibail Rodamco Westfield, have broken almost every promise they have ever made to the residents and businesses in Croydon in the near-14 years since. Even their promise of seven “kiosks” (Westfield’s choice of words in their planning application) to be opened this summer has been broken.
Here we are, in the autumn, with just six kiosks set to open, two of them being revealed from behind Westfield’s art-washing hoardings today. Next door to Miniso is a Sky store, offering broadband and TV deals. They weren’t quite as busy, but then they weren’t giving away any cheap Chinese-made tat.
The kiosks are a form of “meanwhile use”, to breathe some life into a long-neglected stretch of Croydon’s high street. They come seven years after Croydon Council, at the insistence of Westfield, had sent in bailiffs to close down the bizarre bazaar that had opened as a meanwhile use inside the old department store.
According to the public relations firm that is shilling for Westfield this year, the new shops opening in Allders represent “a major milestone in the ongoing redevelopment of Croydon’s town centre”.
It is also, according to the same shillsters “a pivotal milestone in URW’s wider regeneration of the town centre”. The prospect of milestones, even minor ones, pivoting, is a little unsettling.
After Miniso (“the affordable one-stop shop for playful finds that elevate the ordinary”, apparently) and Sky, we are being told to rejoice at the prospect of a café and a florists, an ice cream outlet and a shop selling Islamic fashionwear. Pivotal, indeed.
Or not, if you listen to Inside Croydon readers. In an entirely unscientific poll run on this website this week, almost 9-in-10 respondents declared themselves underwhelmed with the collection of six kiosks that Westfield revealed this week.
“The launch of Allders Parade marks a key step in URW’s wider plans to transform Croydon town centre with new homes, green spaces, modern retail and leisure and a reimagined hub for culture and education,” according this week to someone at LCA, what used to be the London Communications Agency, lobbyists for property speculators and developers.
Nothing’s changed: from George Street, the new shops in Allders cannot be seen, as the art-washing hoardings remain in place
But we have heard all that, or something like it, several times before. And nothing ever actually changes.
So as well as the dire situation for traders inside the old Whitgift Centre – a situation which has been made worse since Westfield became their landlords – there is the disturbing news from well-placed sources that suggests that the very earliest that Westfield might even start demolition or construction work on their phased redevelopment of the old shopping centre is now 2028.
In 2012, Westfield told anyone who would listen that they’d have their shiny new shopping mall all finished by 2017.
So these “meanwhile use” kiosks in Allders could be around for some time yet.
Late delivery: developers Westfield gave Mayor Perry (left; blue suit) a guided tour behind the scenes of their much-delayed kiosks
And it is becoming increasingly apparent that what started out as a £1billion-to-£1.4billion private business scheme might now depend on a massive subsidy of public money – perhaps as much as £100million, from agencies such as Homes England and the GLA.
According to Adam Smith, the developers’ latest exec to preside over the stalled URW Croydon scheme, Westfield opening a handful of shops on North End “is just the start of delivering on our vision for the town centre, as we look to create a more sustainable, connected and community-focused future for Croydon”. Which is nice of him.
And if you want to know what Mayor Perry was told to say about his goody bag from Miniso, with its “exciting mix of must-have Vinyl Plush, blind boxes, adorable plushies, trending beauty essentials, high-quality toys and tasty snacks, all at prices that won’t break the bank”, we’re sure you’ll be able to find it on a Trumpian social media platform over the weekend.
Well worth every penny of his £84,000 a year, we’re sure you’ll agree.
Read more: After the delays, we reveal traders set for Allders kiosks
Read more: Council rushes through permission for seven kiosks in Allders
Read more: Hammer blow for Whitgift Centre with new delay to masterplan
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An “ice cream outlet” opening in Croydon in October (after the onset of autumn , just before the clocks go back at end of that month to remind us that winter is on its way) sounds like the usual timing error from Westfield, Croydon Council and Piss-Poor Perry.
If there were prizes for numbskullery…
Well constructed, and well thought out exterior tbh. Croydon probably needs a big name like John Lewis / Topshop, Muji or Uniqlo to kickstart a major retail revival and the rest will follow. Not sure why Mayor Perry is flexing all the time.
John Lewis abandoned Croydon years ago, and with them went Westfield’s best, last hope of pulling together anything resembling one of their usual malls.
As stated more often than is necessary, high street retail was already in deep trouble when Barwell, Boris Johnson and Perry imposed Westfield on Croydon.
As their developments at Stratford and Shepherds Bush now show, Westfield are moving into the residential development market. Just like Hub…
Much as I despise Westfield for how they’ve treated Croydon, I feel there’s so many other aspects of Westfield saga that can be criticised rather than expending vitriol for them opening a couple of shops that actually add to the high street.
Usually you guys are bang on, but this is your first article that I feel like is unnecessarily negative and dreary. You didn’t need a sarcy remark about the drummer who was just being paid to be there. It got huge queues and it’s finally a store that isn’t a cheap furniture or vape shop. The flower and coffee shops coming look nice too. I feel like you could’ve laid off just this once.
You don’t give a name. Are you a blood relative of Uriah Heap by any chance?
You need to polish up your reading comprehension. The “live drummer” was not a sarky comment about the drummer (who was indeed alive, if not very good), but a critique of the PR companies who are paid small fortunes to churn out their trite and badly written garbage.
But hey, just one article in 15 years being unnecessarily dreary?
Did you get bought off with a goody bag?
In fairness to you the quality of shops aren’t high level after waiting 15 years. We are so accustomed to seeing Louis Vuitton and Gucci etc in Shepherds Bush Westfield , then seeing a Miniso selling complete crap and Sky which was pop up before in Whitgift….probably is a big letdown to those who had high expectations.
Well, every Westfield a Miniso so it’s not that crazy to expect.
Miniso opens in Bromley next month. Who’ll be taking a Superloop to grab their freebies there?
Once again the people of the borough are being gaslit about the Westfield shopping complex in the town centre. I hope no further public money will be given to this private company to build more broken promises.
Fear you may be disappointed.
Hmm, yet another milestone for Croydon’s town centre! Miniso and Sky, the saviours of the high street? Pivotal indeed, if you believe the spin from the PR firms paid to tell us this is a major milestone. Almost 90% of us think otherwise, according to that unscientific poll – typical Westfield under-delivery, I suppose. And lets not forget the masterplan delays stretching into 2028, with the developers needing a £100m public handout to make it happen. Perhaps we should be grateful for a few kiosks and a goody bag from Miniso? Maybe Mayor Perrys £84,000-a-year pay cheque ensures hes rejoicing enough for everyone? Seems like another delay dressed up as progress.
Good to see this building coming back to life.
And a good time to remember that it was Labour-run Croydon Council that closed it back in 2019 when, acting on behalf of the Croydon Partnership, the joint venture between Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield and Hammerson, they changed the locks and forced businesses to close and put people out of work:
https://insidecroydon.com/2019/07/17/councils-cpo-move-on-allders-building-faces-court-challenge
I don’t think Keith Moon or Rick Buckler were especially known for their playing of the bongos from what I saw of this visual clip. Anyone could probably manage what this performer was performing after one session at a drumming club. What a cheap looking skit and what a budget skit show this all looks. Take your goody bag and run.
The Whitgift Centre needs to be transformed in to a local boutique shopping centre like the Southgate Centre in Bath. They have housing for 100 homes and the rest is independent shops mixed with branded shops that suit the area. There also an Everyman cinema and an Entertainment venue nearby, The Forum. Why can’t this be built? The Westfield “concept” of a mega mall is over, but people will always want unique, localized, experiences.
Westfield has said that the megamall project for Croydon is over, too. They want to run a phased redevelopment of the Whitgift Centre with 3,000 homes.
But they are stalling again until they are guaranteed tens of millions of public cash.
I found this Sarah Jones MP Miniso ‘reel’ (video) by accident, should your readers wish to save the trouble to see what it sells:
https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1ZRV9Rfiss/
I will understand if this does not get posted, to save IC readers’ excitement levels.
We’re just delighted that Sarah managed to find her way out of the Whitgift Centre in one piece…
https://insidecroydon.com/2025/09/02/under-westfield-it-looks-like-curtains-for-sad-whitgift-centre/
It does seem odd that the MP who is supposed to represent the residents and business people in the area who have been so badly let down by Westfield, since the company was forced on to Croydon by the Tory MP she replaced, should be out cheerleading for Westfield over such a very minor achievement.