Category Archives: Allders
Westfield consult public for 6th time and deliver more delays
Paris-based multi-bilion developers URW today begin another public consultation over the future of the town centre – Consultation No6 – which means that their latest planning application, already two years late, won’t see the light of day until long after … Continue reading
Exits and pay-offs: our news panel goes behind the headlines
The latest golden goodbye for a departing council CEO, the terrible state of even new flats around central Croydon, Westfield and the Allders kiosks, and what looks like the hot ticket for Christmas entertainment – all get discussed on our … Continue reading
Planning application for Westfield scheme stalled to mid-2026
EXCLUSIVE: ‘”Rome wasn’t built in a day”, but it never took this long’. More broken promises from the Paris-based developers as their housing scheme for the town centre is delayed again. By STEVEN DOWNES Their planning application was supposed to … Continue reading
Smell the coffee… Last two Allders kiosks set to open this week
Locals better get there early on Friday, for the grand opening of Coco and Nut on North End, when free coffees and pastries will be on offer to celebrate. Because, with the slightest whiff of a freebie to be had, … Continue reading
Five Guys is latest business to give up on Croydon High Street
It’s not just Croydon’s pubs which are closing down. Five Guys, the pricy American burger joint on Croydon High Street, has closed in the past week. While Croydon’s failed Mayor, Jason Perry, drops his chips over the opening of a … Continue reading
Abaci and florists’ are next kiosks to open in ‘Allders Parade’
EXCLUSIVE: After the Whitgift Centre’s florist shop joined the mass exodus of stores from the town centre, Westfield prepares to open a ‘kiosk’ in the old Allders building that will be selling… flowers Inside Croydon can reveal that the next … Continue reading
Figures show how exodus from Whitgift Centre is speeding up
The number of empty retail units in the Whitgift Centre has increased by more than 50% in the past year, according to recent research. Now under the management of Westfield, the Whitgift Centre was supposed to have been demolished and … Continue reading
Westfield is forced to fence off Centrale’s leaky entrance
As one door opens, another slams into shoppers’ faces on North End, as temporary fencing was erected outside the entrance to Zara and House of Fraser Less than a week after Westfield was trumpeting the opening of two “kiosks” in … Continue reading
Delve behind the headlines on Allders, The Fold, Anonyvoter and campaign launches, with our regular subscriber podcast
Our Croydon Insider podcasts are an (almost) regular delve behind the headlines at the stories that matter to you, Inside Croydon’s loyal readers. And in our latest wide-ranging episode – part of what has been described as a “citizens’ revolt … Continue reading
Croydon transformed! Westfield open two kiosks in Allders
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 … Continue reading
After the delays, we reveal traders set for Allders kiosks
EXCLUSIVE: Months late, and with only six of the seven units allocated, Westfield is finally about to find a use for part of the town centre’s former department store. By STEVEN DOWNES More than a year after being granted planning … Continue reading
‘Permanently closed’: Whitgift Centre works mark end of days
CROYDON IN CRISIS: With the 60-year-old shopping mall increasingly blocked off for what remains of its visitors, it cannot be long before the last remaining tenants of the Whitgift Centre give up and leave The long and tortured process which … Continue reading
YouTuber Swallow is taking us on a Croydon walk through time
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: On a stroll through the town centre, take a look up – or you won’t realise what you’re missing of the local heritage. That’s the message a local historian shared with DAVID MORGAN “Croydon is a goldmine of … Continue reading
Perry’s poor waffle performance shows who is really in charge
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The borough’s £82,000 per year executive Mayor gave up a morning of his valuable time to help a property PR firm boost the flagging credibility of Westfield’s town centre proposals. And there among the breakfast croissants and … Continue reading
We need a new approach to the town centre’s old problem
CROYDON COMMENTARY: Six months ago, after the latest, tokenistic ‘consultation’ over the town centre redevelopment, TED GUSH wrote that the credibility of Westfield and its regeneration scheme was ‘officially in tatters’. Now, he reacts to the latest Property Week report It … Continue reading
Sign up now to hear Croydon Mayor Jason Perry waffling on
Seriously. You cannot make this shit up. Jason Perry, the part-time Mayor of Croydon and full-time plastic guttering salesman, is in the middle of probably the greatest crisis this borough has ever seen, a crisis largely of his own making. … Continue reading
‘It has to be’: Westfield scheme needs millions of public money
UNDER THE FLYOVER: In our latest podcast interview, housing specialist Fiona Fletcher-Smith, now the volunteer chair of the Whitgift Foundation’s governors, discusses the housing crisis, the closure of Old Palace School, what’s happening with the long-promised ‘kiosks’ in the Allders … Continue reading
Superdry closure is the latest nail in Whitgift Centre’s coffin
With every passing announcement of the latest closure, nails are being hammered into the coffin of Croydon’s sadly declining Whitgift Centre. The latest exit is that of Superdry, the shop selling the premium British fashion brand that occupies a large, … Continue reading
Bench removal confirms Perry’s PSPO is yet another failure
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Mayor’s ‘reign of error’ now includes removing benches from the high street in attempt to solve anti-social behaviour. Except that it hasn’t… KEN LEE reports Jason Perry, Croydon’s piss-poor Mayor, has spent much of the past week … Continue reading
Landowner wants public cash to help delayed Westfield project
EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES The Whitgift Foundation is in talks with the Mayor of London and central government for another multi-million-pound bail-out for Croydon, this one likely to centre around building around 3,000 homes in the town centre. That’s according … Continue reading
Kiosks to open today in clapped-out shell of Allders building
Monsoon has gone. WH Smith is soon to be no more. Sainsbury’s packed up and left. So has Body Shop. But after more than a decade of broken promises, “a bold, new retail era is being launched” by Westfield in … Continue reading
Westfield’s latest charm offensive: £1,000 to handful of groups
Westfield, part of the multi-national Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield property group which is worth many billions, last month announced an “important strand of our community strategy”: doling out some modest grants to community groups and charities in the borough. It is more than … Continue reading
Here’s our wish-list for a better Croydon and Sutton in 2025
What do you want for Croydon, and Sutton, in 2025? We approached a wide range of figures, including loyal readers, religious leaders, educators and business people for their thoughts – and hopes – for the New Year Ken Towl Addiscombe … Continue reading
