Category Archives: Centrale

Negrini draws ridicule for her £81 On The Buses guided tour

Hold very tight please! Our transport correspondent, JEREMY CLACKSON, is ready to be taken for a ride around Croydon town centre, all in the name of a good cause Croydon’s beleaguered £220,000 per year chief executive has attracted yet more … Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Boxpark, Brick by Brick, Business, Centrale, Colm Lacey, CPO, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Heather Cheesbrough, Jo Negrini, Menta Tower, Paul Scott, Property, Purley Way, Ruskin Square, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Council to debate Westfield after Newman’s pointless meeting

KEN LEE, our Town Hall reporter, on an attempt to block any discussion of the crisis for the town centre at next week’s full council meeting Tony Newman came back from his meeting with Westfield at City Hall yesterday empty-handed … Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Centrale, Croydon Council, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Jo Negrini, Tim Pollard, Tony Newman, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Hammerson’s £781m loss points to end of the shopping mall

MT WALLETTE, our unbuilt shopping malls correspondent, on the latest doom-laden annual report from one of the Croydon ‘partners’ Anyone clinging to the faint hope that the publication this morning of Hammerson’s annual report would offer encouragement about the prospects … Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Centrale, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

They survived world wars and riots. They can survive Westfield

Leading Croydon businesses, who have been trading for more than 150 years, are angry at the ‘complete dereliction of duty, mismanagement and incompetence in every single aspect’ over the non-development of the town centre. And they offer some prospect of … Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Business, Centrale, Crime, Croydon 8/8, Croydon Council, Hewitts, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Hammerson’s annual report could be bad news for Croydon

BARRATT HOLMES, our over-development correspondent, has been skimming through the trade press and found a damning verdict on the prospects for Croydon town centre One of the best-read commentators on the commercial property market says that he cannot ever see … Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Centrale, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, John Burton, Planning, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Wait-field: now Labour council leader Newman calls it a ‘mess’

Our Town Hall reporter, KEN LEE, on the rancour and recriminations between the borough’s third-rate politicians, desperately trying to pass the buck over the stalled £1.4bn supermall scheme, as City Hall is forced to step in to try to salvage … Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Centrale, Croydon Council, Gavin Barwell, Jo Negrini, Jules Pipe, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Planning, Tony Newman, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Westfield scale down plans, leaving Croydon a ‘dead duckling’

A day early, Croydon has suffered a Valentine’s Day massacre, as the French owners of Westfield announced a multi-billion reshaping of their investment plans – with their Croydon project described as a “£1.5billion dead duckling”. And it seems Croydon Council … Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Centrale, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Westfield now holding Croydon to ransom over business rates

Just how big a bribe, a “bung” if you prefer, of public cash is it going to take to get Westfield and their supermall partners to finally get to work on their Barwell-inspired, Tory-backed shopping centre scheme in Croydon Town … Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Centrale, Croydon Central, Croydon Council, Sarah Jones MP, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Westfield ‘review’ drags on as retail has worst year since 1995

Our retailing correspondent MT WALETTE can find no good news for the nation’s high streets – which is very bad news for Croydon’s retail-led town centre ‘regeneration’ Last year was the worst on record for retailing in this country, with … Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Centrale, CPO, Debenhams, House of Fraser, Tony Newman, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

What the election means for Croydon, Westfield and St Helier

After a long and sleepless night, our political editor WALTER CONXITE sifts through the wreckage of the General Election, and what it might mean for Croydon, and Sutton The fourth General Election since 2010 is significant because it is the … Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", 2019 General Election, Adult Social Care, Boris Johnson, Brick by Brick, Centrale, Children's Services, Chris Philp MP, Croydon Central, Croydon Council, Croydon North, Croydon South, Elliot Colburn, Health, Housing, Jo Negrini, London Assembly, London-wide issues, Mario Creatura, Mayday Hospital, Mayor of London, Neil Garratt, Paul Scott, Paul Scully MP, Sadiq Khan, Sarah Jones MP, Shaun Bailey, St Helier Hospital, Steve Reed MP, Sutton Council, Tom Brake MP, Tony Newman, Waste incinerator, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Another body-blow as Hammerson lists malls for sale

The latest body-blow to the prospects of the £1.4billion redevelopment of Croydon town centre came last night, with all the force of an Anthony Joshua uppercut: Hammerson is exiting the retail shopping park business, and doing so as fast as … Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Centrale, CPO, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

£2.5bn fund closure is bad news for Croydon’s Westfield hopes

The doubts about whether the Westfield redevelopment of Croydon’s Whitgift Centre will ever begin grew even greater this week, as one of the country’s biggest property funds began blocking investors from making withdrawals, blaming both Brexit and the retail downturn … Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Business, Centrale, CPO, Croydon Council, Paul Scott, Planning, Tony Newman, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Centrale puts rhymes and reason into Mental Health Day

The Poetry Project is coming to Centrale and the Whitgift shopping centres this week, to help raise awareness of tomorrow’s World Mental Health Day. The two shopping centres will be displaying specially commissioned poems created by poet James McInerney to … Continue reading →

Posted in Centrale, Poetry, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Centrale offers £5 to first shoppers who ‘declutter to refresh’

Croydon shoppers are being encouraged to recycle before they refresh their wardrobes, as the Centrale shopping mall in the town centre announces it will host an autumn fashion and beauty event with a difference. “Declutter to Refresh” on October 4-5 … Continue reading →

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Claim a free book ahead of Whitgift Centre’s storytime

Get your bookmarks at the ready, as the Centrale and Whitgift shopping centres invite you and the little ones to storytime corner this Friday, September 6, on National Read a Book Day. Popular children’s author Helen Peters will be reading … Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Business, Centrale, Education, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , | Leave a comment

A month after seizing Allders, council moves just six traders

The council’s propaganda department has finally, a month after Town Hall heavies staged a dawn raid on the former Allders building, broken its silence over the forced closure of the Croydon Outlet Village. On July 16, around two dozen small … Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Business, Centrale, CPO, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Paul Scott, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Westfield is ‘too little, too late’ to save Croydon town centre

With more than 1,200 empty units in the borough already, traders say that the development blight caused by lengthy delays by supermall operators has turned Croydon into ‘a retail graveyard’. MT WALLETTE reports A shiny new Westfield shopping centre, promised … Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Business, Centrale, CPO, Croydon Council, Growth Zone, Jo Negrini, Planning, Tony Newman, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Centrale transformed into a Wonderland for little superheroes

Centrale shopping centre is treating families to a range of children-friendly activities this summer, starting this week in the central atrium for exclusive workshops and games in Alice’s Wonderland. Families are invited to experience this “Through the Keyhole” fantasy experience … Continue reading →

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Westfield woe as high street sales fall ‘worst since the crash’

The prospects of Westfield ever making good on their promise to redevelop the town centre appear to be receding by the week, while Croydon’s Labour-run council cravenly gives in to the developers by withholding vital information about the long-delayed project. … Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Centrale, Croydon Council, Debenhams, House of Fraser, Jo Negrini, Tony Newman, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Workers fear House of Fraser store’s lease won’t be renewed

Our retailing correspondent MT WALLETTE reports on suggestions that House of Fraser is considering the status of its Centrale lease There’s growing concern among staff and workers at one of Croydon’s last remaining department stores about the future for their … Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Centrale, Debenhams, House of Fraser, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Volunteers Week – The Big Recruit, Centrale, Jun 3-7

Posted in Centrale, Charity, Community associations | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Council breaks the law to keep Newman’s Westfield letter secret

Town Hall reporter KEN LEE on how the increasingly secretive Labour council appears to have something to hide over the future of the town centre’s long-delayed redevelopment Croydon Council is trying to keep secret the contents of a letter sent … Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Business, Centrale, Croydon Council, Debenhams, House of Fraser, Jo Negrini, Tony Newman, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Internet can’t replace real life shopping in Surrey Street

CROYDON COMMENTARY: With Debenhams the latest Centrale department store battling for survival, reader LEWIS WHITE offers his views on the blight that is the modern, online retail experience Hindsight says that it’s a pity that Centrale was ever built. Whitgift … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Centrale, Debenhams, Surrey Street | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Centrale’s Debenhams is given a reprieve – but for how long?

Our retailing crisis correspondent, MT WALLETTE, on worrying times for employees in one of the town centre’s last remaining department stores Staff working in Debenhams in Croydon’s Centrale shopping centre were given a reprieve this morning when their store was … Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Centrale, Debenhams, House of Fraser, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Newman: New Westfield should have a much smaller car park

Tony Newman, the leader of Croydon’s Labour-controlled council, wants the new Westfield supermall in the town centre – if it is ever built – to have “considerably less” than the 3,000 car parking spaces for which his own council has … Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Centrale, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Paul Scott, Planning, Sarah Jones MP, Tony Newman, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments