Tag Archives: Hammerson

Bishop’s Wine Bar set to bid final farewell to Whitgift Centre

The pernicious effects of the ‘development blight’ inflicted on Croydon’s town centre by Westfield continue to be keenly felt. JOHNNY DOBBYN paid possibly his last visit to the wine bar which will be pulling down the shutters for a final … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Pubs, Restaurants, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

That was the year that was: Inside Croydon’s pick of 2025

As we approach the year’s end, here’s the first part of our review of 2025, and a look at some of the Inside Croydon reports which generated most public interest  JANUARY 2025 It was the grimmest of starts to the … Continue reading

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Another Croydon mugging as Westfield stages latest charade

There’s a public consultation about the long-delayed Westfield redevelopment of the town centre. Yes, another one. But there’s no promises of when any work will actually begin, or end. By STEVEN DOWNES After decades of broken promises and inflicting development … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Adam Smith, Business, Centrale, Housing, Mayor Jason Perry, Planning, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Westfield’s non-denial denials can’t mask their investment plan

More than 48 hours after trade magazine Property Week reported what Westfield had been briefing their investors about the possibility of them selling off their interests in Croydon, and there’s been not a peep from the Paris head office of … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Centrale, Croydon West, Housing, Mayor Jason Perry, Planning, Sarah Jones MP, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Westfield looking for ‘bargain basement’ sale of Croydon site

Respected trade magazine Property Week is reporting that after almost 14 years of inflicting development blight on Croydon town centre, without ever laying a single brick, Westfield could be about to flog off their interests in south London once and … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Centrale, Housing, Mayor Jason Perry, Planning, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 21 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

No apologies from council for Christmas closure of subway

A week on since Inside Croydon reported on the plight of Whitgift Centre traders, cut-off from their customers by the abrupt, no-notice closure of the Wellesley Road pedestrian underpass, and Croydon Council has responded. With an unapologetic tweet. It is … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Subway closure leaves Whitgift traders shut out for Christmas

Businesses struggling for survival in the long-neglected Whitgift Centre say they are enduring their worst Christmas trading season in 25 years The closure of the Wellesley Road pedestrian subway has entered a second week, with potential customers blocked off from … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Planning and tax changes might suit delayed Westfield scheme

Does the growth-driven agenda of Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves’s Labour government offer any change of fortune for Croydon? ANDREW FISHER, pictured right, weighs up the possibilities It should have been all so different: “Croydon’s future secured with agreement to … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Andrew Fisher, Business, Centrale, Council Tax, Croydon College, Croydon Council, Housing, LSBU campus, Mayor Jason Perry, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

School site to be sold off as pupils finish their final term

Education correspondent GENE BRODIE on the latest move by the borough’s biggest landowners in the slow, death throes of one of Croydon’s best-known schools The final bell, on the final day at the end of the school’s final year has … Continue reading

Posted in Charity, Housing, Old Palace, Planning, Property, Schools, South Croydon, Whitgift Foundation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Charity Commission alerted to problems at Whitgift Foundation

CROYDON IN CRISIS: No chief exec in place for 12 months, accounts later than usual to be filed, and £50m wiped off its funds in five years. Now the borough’s biggest landowners are subject to a formal complaint to regulators. … Continue reading

Posted in Bishop of Croydon, Business, Charity, Education, Old Palace, Old Palace Parents' Alliance, Rosemarie Mallett, Schools, Stiles Harold Williams, Trinity School, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation, Whitgift School | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Builders brand Gove’s latest CPO reforms as ‘desperation’

Our housing correspondent, BARRATT HOLMES, on how a ‘very un-Conservative’ policy shift has probably come too late to save Croydon town centre New powers handed to local authorities by the Conservative Government could, just, open the way for Croydon Council … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, CPO, Croydon Council, Housing, London-wide issues, Planning, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 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

Croydon in 2023: Murder, school closures and Westfield blight

THE YEAR IN REVIEW Part 3 – September to December It’s not like there’s ever any shortage of stories to cover in Croydon. But even by this area’s usual standards, the news that Inside Croydon reported, often exclusively, in the … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Art, Business, Crime, Croydon Council, History, Inside Croydon, Knife crime, Mayor Jason Perry, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Croydon 2023: the Penn Report, dog attacks and those giraffes

THE YEAR IN REVIEW Part 2 – May to August If there was one good thing to come out of Croydon Council this year, then it must have been the Penn Report. Katherine Kerswell, the council’s chief executive, had held … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Art, Borough of Culture 2023, Business, Crime, Croydon Council, Heathfield House, History, Inside Croydon, Knife crime, Mayor Jason Perry, Sarah Jones MP, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

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

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

Westfield boss says Croydon scheme could take 15 more years

‘Sustainable’ plans for redeveloping the town centre could see as many as 30,000 new flats built, according to one council figure, but a scheme that was originally due to be completed in 2017 now might only be finished more than … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Business, Centrale, Sean Fitzsimons, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Hammer blow for Whitgift Centre with new delay to masterplan

CROYDON IN CRISIS: No more ‘Death Star’-type, £1.4bn Westfield shopping mall say developers, who want to build ‘thousands’ of flats, as Paris-based firm looks for a more sustainable approach In a hammer blow to any hope of urgently rescuing the … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Centrale, Croydon Council, Housing, Mayor Jason Perry, Planning, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 24 Comments

Colonnades sold by council for £25m under purchase price

CROYDON IN CRISIS: The Government-enforced fire sale of council assets is about to see the borough lose even more money, on a commercial property that has been making millions for the borough. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Croydon’s Mayor and Tory … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Croydon Council, Croydon Park Hotel, Improvement Board, Jane West, Property, Purley Way, Simon Hall, Tony McArdle, Waddon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

After 54 years, Sainsbury’s enters final week in Whitgift Centre

CROYDON IN CRISIS: The departure of one of the shopping centre’s ever-presents will only reinforce the feeling of decay and decline in the town centre Sainsbury’s has confirmed that the final day of trading for its Whitgift Centre store will … Continue reading

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

Sainsbury’s confirms it is to close Whitgift Centre store

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Supermarket chain says it was a ‘difficult decision’ to close flagship shop – but at least they have five higher-profit ‘Local’ shops nearby. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Britain’s second-largest chain of supermarkets has admitted that it can … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Centrale, Planning, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Perry admits he has failed to secure £540m debt write-off deal

CROYDON IN CRISIS: After a year in office, the Tory Mayor told a Purley audience last night that he has failed to ‘fix the finances’ and he won’t be opening the local swimming pool without lumbering the area with another … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 26 Comments

What will the ‘new’ Westfield deal really mean for Croydon?

STEVEN DOWNES outlines some of the likely consequences of this week’s announcement that Paris-based Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield have bought out their former partners Hammerson for the redevelopment of the town centre In all the flurry of civic excitement over the announcement that … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Centrale, CPO, Croydon Council, Growth Zone, Housing, London-wide issues, Mayor Jason Perry, Mayor of London, Planning, Sadiq Khan, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

MP Jones: Time for Westfield to grasp Croydon opportunity

Sarah Jones, the MP for Croydon Central, today responded to the news that Westfield’s parent company had bought out Hammerson’s half-share in the Croydon Partnership, including the Centrale shopping mall, potentially removing the log-jam in the long-delayed redevelopment of Croydon … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Centrale, Croydon Central, Sarah Jones MP, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments