There has been an outpouring of anger at the news, first reported by this website, that ‘the Scrooges of Westfield’ have ordered Bishops Wine Bar to move out of their home of more than 40 years
Outpouring of support: regulars at Bishops Wine Bar, run by Angela Ferrara (behind the bar), have been furious at the decision to terminate the business’s lease in June
The latest closure of a Croydon business ordered by the management of the Whitgift Centre has provoked an angry public backlash – from regular tipplers at Bishops’ Wine Bar but also from some who assumed the bar had closed long ago, and others who never even knew it existed.
Inside Croydon reported on Friday how Angela Ferrara, Bishops’ manager, had posted an online public petition after her business had been served notice to quit by the end of June this year. She called the decision “arbitrary and unjust”. Ferrara has told Inside Croydon that almost a week since the unwelcome notice arrived on New Year’s Eve, she has still received no explanation for the decision to exercise the break clause in the wine bar’s lease.
And the news has drawn strong criticism of Westfield, the multibillion multinational property giant, now based in Paris, which manages the Whitgift Centre.
There has also been an outpouring of messages of support for the wine bar’s managers.
“Bishops Wine Bar is part of what makes Croydon…Croydon,” said one petition signatory.
“It’s a warm and cosy little place with a long history and a unique character. Croydon needs such places. I can understand that if the Westfield development is actually going ahead (who believes this?!) then, yeah, such a closure is inevitable.
“But if that really is the case, there needs to be a suitable replacement venue for Angela, Cosimo and the unique character of Bishops Wine Bar to continue. Surely there is a solution here? Please lets not rip out any more of the soul of Croydon.”
Doubling up: the Bishops petition (using an image of another wine bar) has more than doubled its signatures since the iC article appeared last Friday
Westfield has been promising a £1billion regeneration of Croydon town centre for 14 years, without ever delivering on their promises. In one iteration of their plans, tenant businesses in the Whitgift Centre were to be offered alternative premises in Centrale, the other large (and increasingly empty) shopping mall on the opposite side of North End.
Westfield were supposed to submit an updated planning application – their third – by November 2024. That date slipped to November 2025. Now, no new planning application is expected from Westfield until the early summer, at the earliest.
There has been no alternative premises offer for Bishops, while the exodus of traders from the Whitgift Centre appears to be gathering pace.
Bishops, nestled in a hard-to-find corner of the increasingly desolate shopping centre, has been enduring an existential battle for a couple of years, especially so since the Whitgift Centre management closed the Allders multi-storey car park in 2024, cutting off the wine bar from anyone in the shopping mall who might fancy a swift Malbec before lugging their shopping home.
Recently, the shopping centre managers have even been dubbed “the Scrooges of Westfield”, after they blocked a local choir from singing carols and raising money for charity in the centre at Christmas time.
No sign of business: the Whitgift Centre’s promised signage for Bishops Wine Bar has never materialised
The move on Bishops has not won Westfield any new admirers. On social media platforms, iC readers responded with a mixture of anger, and some bemusement.
“I’m now getting a sense that Westfield and Croydon Council may be bullying units out in order to turn [the shopping centre] into flats… This now makes so much sense. A lack of businesses framed as an organic lack of interest will be used to justify it,” one reader suggested.
In fact, the area’s future was outlined in a “masterplan” drawn up by Westfield last year, which proposes building 3,000 flats where the Whitgift Centre stands today, and getting rid of two-thirds of the retail space in the town centre – something which Croydon Mayor Jason Perry has gone along with.
Another reader asked: “What is the answer to the decline of Croydon, its bars shops and vibe?
“It was a go-to town in its day. Dr Jim’s , Scamps, The Market, rammed on Saturday morning, decent shops, Grants, Allders, Debenhams. All gone.
“How the fuck can the town recover and get back on track, repair the crack ripping it apart?”
When Mayor Perry’s name was mentioned as someone who could intervene on behalf of Bishops, one loyal reader said that he “will hide and do or say nothing in support of Bishops”.
Hidden gem: Bishop’s Wine Bar, one of the few remaining businesses in the shopping centre, has an uncertain future
One reader summed up many other comments about Bishops: “A classy little drinking establishment hidden in the Whitgift centre. Sad it’s closing.”
Others expressed their surprise that the place might be closed: “No way! My boss was always in there many years ago,” they said.
The difficulties in locating Bishops and its out-of-the-way location was reflected in several other comments. “I thought that had closed years ago. I haven’t been in there for at least 20 years or so,” one said.
“Been in Croydon 10 years but didn’t know this place even existed. Will be sure to visit now!”
“Where is it?” asked more than one.
Ferrara, confirming that Westfield and the Whitgift Centre management had yet to provide any explanation for their decision, told Inside Croydon: “We have been overwhelmed by the goodwill and support for Bishops that our petition has gained and would like to thank everyone who has signed it.
“The situation is baffling and massively stressful to us.”
Read more: The MP hidden away on third floor of a deserted shopping mall
Read more: Town centre traders struggle on to serve up the good times
Read more: Another Whitgift store to close – and manager blames Westfield
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