Category Archives: Allders

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 →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Inside Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, North End Quarter, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Perry’s council endorses scheme for 3,000 flats in town centre

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Getting rid of two-thirds of the retail space in the town centre and replacing it with flats is about all that execs from Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield were prepared to share to a council committee, reports our housing correspondent, BARRATT … Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Business, Centrale, Clive Fraser, Croydon Council, Helen Redfern, Housing, Ian Parker, Mayor Jason Perry, Nicola Townsend, North End Quarter, Planning, Sean Fitzsimons, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 30 Comments

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 →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Business, Charity, Community associations, CVA, Mayor Jason Perry, North End Quarter, Steve Phaure, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

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 →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Andrew Fisher, Claire Bonham, Climate Crisis Commission, Council Tax, Crime, Croydon Council, Croydon Harriers, Croydon Insider, Croydon parks, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Crystal Palace FC, David Morgan, Environment, Housing, Inside Croydon, Jerry Fitzpatrick, Ken Towl, Knife crime, Lloyd Park, Mayor Jason Perry, Nick Mattey, North End Quarter, Peter Underwood, South Bank Poly, Sutton Council, The Andrew Fisher Interview, Under The Flyover, Waste incinerator | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Westfield need to rebuild Croydon credibility before all else

CROYDON COMMENTARY: Following the brief, tokenistic ‘engagement’ with the public over plans for the town centre, TED GUSH says that the whole approach offered by Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield and the council to the so-called ‘North End Quarter’ needs to be seriously challenged … Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Business, Croydon Council, North End Quarter, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Foundation now looking for buyer for Whitgift’s old palace

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Little more than a year since the shock announcement that it would be closing its girls’ fee-paying school, and still mired in a financial hole caused by delays over the redevelopment of the town centre, the borough’s … Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Business, CPO, Education, Old Palace, Schools, Trinity School, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation, Whitgift School | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Waiting for Westfield leaves us Urban Room for improvement

With not a moment to lose, KEN TOWL dashed down to the Whitgift Centre to try to discover what the multi-national developers might have in store for the town centre, amid their models made of cereal packets and design briefs … Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Business, Centrale, CPO, Croydon Council, Ken Towl, North End Quarter, Planning, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Westfield wants to build five times as many flats in town centre

CROYDON IN CRISIS: The one-time shopping mall developer is shapeshifting its business towards residential property, but appears in no hurry to action any of its promises after more than a decade of blight to North End. By our housing correspondent, … Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Business, Centrale, CPO, Croydon Council, North End Quarter, Planning, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Westfield appoints firm that oversaw King’s Cross scheme

Westfield has today begun what they call “a year-long programme of engagement”, before the Paris-based shopping mall developers finally put together a planning application, by our reckoning the third, for what was once a £1.4billion regeneration scheme in Croydon town … Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Business, Centrale, CPO, Croydon Council, North End Quarter, Planning, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Westfield reveal consultation and more delays on ‘masterplan’

CROYDON IN CRISIS: After being crushed by developer blight for more than a decade, the town centre faces an even longer wait for the big reveal of Paris-based multi-national’s latest proposals. By STEVEN DOWNES It could be more than a … Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Business, Centrale, CPO, Croydon Council, Nazeya Hussain, North End Quarter, Planning, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Hussein handed council hot seat for Westfield development

EXCLUSIVE: KEN LEE, our Town Hall reporter, with a leaked internal memo on the appointment of the latest corporate director for Fisher’s Folly Nazeya Hussein, after a career working in local government, has been announced as the new, albeit interim, … Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Business, Centrale, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Nazeya Hussain, Shifa Mustafa, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Views behind the news headlines with the Croydon Insider

Have all the country’s politicians lost the ability to say, “No, thank you very much”? That’s just one of the questions considered by our panel guests in this latest, packed edition of the Croydon Insider. Our guests for this episode … Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Business, Croydon Insider, Inside Croydon, Ken Towl, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Perry allows Westfield to spend £6m ‘fine’ on own interests

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Glacially slow progress, more delays and a secretive land deal to flog-off council-owned car parks to multi-national developers are buried in an official report. By KEN LEE, our Town Hall reporter The council’s propaganda department’s devious approach … Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Business, Centrale, Croydon Council, Growth Zone, Housing, Mayor Jason Perry, Parking, Planning, Property, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Council rushes through permission for seven kiosks in Allders

For a second time in as many months, Jason Perry, Croydon’s Mayor, has dropped his chips with excitement over a scheme for the old Allders building which has left residents underwhelmed and unimpressed. Having kept Croydon waiting for 12 years … Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Business, Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry, Planning, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Latest Allders plan offers more fried chicken for town centre

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Mayor Jason Perry managed to get all excited last week by a planning application from the Paris-based shopping mall developers that amounts to nothing more than a knocked-off, down-sized, mini-Boozepark. It’s just the latest sign that the … Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Business, Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry, Nicola Townsend, Planning, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 21 Comments

‘Too little, too late’: Residents underwhelmed by Mayor’s stunt

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Westfield wants to make alterations to the fascia of Allders, as Jason Perry gets over-excited about seven ‘kiosks’. By STEVEN DOWNES “Too little, too late.” That was the response from residents when Mayor Jason Perry pulled a … Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Business, Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry, Planning, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Westfield’s parking charges are message to Croydon: FAAC off

The controversial closure of the old Allders car park, cutting off access for shoppers to the Whitgift shopping centre, is just one of a series of moves undertaken by Westfield which appear to make visiting the shops in Croydon town … Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Business, Centrale, Parking, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Business owners ignored as Whitgift closes car park entrance

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Shopping centre managers have gone ahead with the closure of the old Allders car park – making it even more difficult for people to visit the increasingly dilapidated venue The management of the Whitgift Centre has ignored … Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Business, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Businesses on the brink as Whitgift Centre set to close car park

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Long-term lack of maintenance and closures of part of the shopping mall are seeing fewer customers visiting the town centre, leaving some business owners in tears. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Owners and managers of the few remaining … Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Business, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 23 Comments

Tories warn residents: don’t be ‘negative’ about Allders murals

The hard-working volunteers of a local community association have been harshly criticised by their Tory ward councillor for not being as obsequious and fawning as required over the latest artwashing exploits in the town centre. Tory councillor Michael Neal – … Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Art, Business, Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry, Michael Neal, Planning, South Croydon, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

While admiring town centre’s new art, try not to get arrested

The newly installed street art around the town centre has its appeal, the overtly hostile security policy in Centrale less so, says KEN TOWL It was quite a thrill to be described as “the IC1 male taking pictures with a … Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Art, Business, Centrale, Ken Towl, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Westfield begins ‘cover-up’ at Allders – with pop art hoardings

STEVEN DOWNES on the latest efforts by Westfield to make up for more than a decade of development blight After a 12-year wait, Westfield has finally started constructing something in Croydon town centre. Nothing as substantive, or as lasting, as … Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Art, Business, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

2023 in Croydon – as told through our best-read articles

THE YEAR IN REVIEW Part 1 – January to April The parlous state of the council’s finances would remain a thorny issue throughout the year, after Tory Mayor Jason Perry issued a Section 114 notice of his own in November … Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Birch (Selsdon), Business, Centrale, Crime, Croydon Council, Heathfield House, History, Inside Croydon, Knife crime, Mayor Jason Perry, Sarah Jones MP, Selsdon Park Hotel, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Tory Perry launches ‘Urban Room’ where nothing’s happening

Our retailing correspondent, MT WALLETTE, reports on the latest half-cock initiative from the council to ‘revive’ the ailing town centre: an insta account and a desperate plea for ideas from the public Mayor Jason Perry’s latest feeble effort to somehow … Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Andrew Pelling, Business, Centrale, Croydon BID, Croydon Council, Environment, Fairfield, Growth Zone, Housing, Mayor Jason Perry, Mayor of London, Peter Underwood, Planning, Ria Patel, Secret Cinema, Stiles Harold Williams, TfL, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Millionaire pulls plug on Mayor Perry’s ‘big idea’ for Allders

CROYDON IN CRISIS: The businessman behind Secret Cinema folded five companies in August, as ambitious plans for the ‘turning point for the future of entertainment’ in Croydon’s dilapidated town centre are abandoned. By STEVEN DOWNES Jason Perry put on his … Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Business, Centrale, Croydon BID, Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry, Secret Cinema, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments