Tag Archives: Mary Portas

Portas Pilot has been a flop, admits scheme’s ex-chair

Posted on September 3, 2013 by

The Portas Pilot project, intended to revive business in Croydon’s ancient Surrey Street Market, has been a failure. That’s effectively the admission of Mary Portas, Prime Minister David Cameron’s “retail guru” and self-proclaimed “Queen of the High Street”. It is … Continue reading →

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Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Business, Centrale, Planning, Surrey Street, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Croydon’s secret tax on car parking that divides the borough

Posted on August 4, 2013 by

CROYDON COMMENTARY: For a town that has built itself around the demands of the motor car, parking the vehicles is an ever-growing problem, and Croydon Council has yet to find the right, or fair, way of dealing with it, CHARLOTTE … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Community associations, Commuting, Croydon Council, Environment, Parking, Phil Thomas, South Croydon Community Association, Transport | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Portas Pilot one year on: more shops have closed in Croydon

Posted on May 29, 2013 by

The state of Surrey Street and Church Street markets in Croydon are worse now than 12 months ago, when the area was awarded a £100,000 grant by the local government department as part of the Portas Pilot scheme, according to … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Centrale, Community associations, Surrey Street, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Let them bake cake: Croydon Portas team’s £16,000 spend

Posted on May 18, 2013 by

Croydon’s Portas Pilot scheme, which saw the historic Surrey Street Market granted £100,000 of government money a year ago, is spending nearly £16,000 of that cash to stage a handful of baking competitions and to “improve” Exchange Square. Inside Croydon … Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Business, Centrale, Clare Hilley, Croydon Council, Gavin Barwell, Surrey Street, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Portas starts to opens doors – for £1bn “Hammersfield”

Posted on May 8, 2013 by

LAST NIGHT’S TELLY: DAVID CALLAM, the former local newspaper business editor, reviews the opening episode of Mary Queen of the High Street, the Channel 4 series that spawned £2.7 million-worth of public grants, and poses an important question about her … Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Activities, Business, David Callam, Surrey Street, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Mary Portas’s TV company listed Croydon to get grant

Posted on May 7, 2013 by

Croydon received a £100,000 government grant last year after programme makers involved with tonight’s new Mary Portas Channel 4 series had named Surrey Street on a list of markets that they wanted included in the scheme. Mary Queen of the … Continue reading →

Posted in 8/8: London Road stories, Activities, Business, Croydon 8/8, Surrey Street | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Ferrari to host Westfield’s “Telephone Town Hall”

Posted on November 20, 2012 by

While the politicians of various parties and (questionable) abilities continue to indulge themselves in half-truths, misinformation and petty spats, elsewhere in London, in the plush offices of West End PR agencies and high-powered law firms, the real battle for Croydon’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Allders, Business, Centrale, Housing, Planning, Property, South Croydon Community Association, Transport, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

£10,000 tunnel artwork paid for out of riot recovery fund

Posted on November 7, 2012 by

In the matter of one of Croydon’s concrete underpasses, it seems that the council’s press office has forgotten the old adage about what to stop doing when you’re in a hole… Confusion reigns between Taberner House and the Croydon Conference … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Business, Croydon 8/8, Croydon Council, Environment, Surrey Street, Waddon | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Portas fund pays £10,000 for Waddon underpass mural

Posted on November 6, 2012 by

Phil Thomas, the Croydon cabinet member in charge of the borough’s highways system, has broken a promise to meet with residents in Waddon to discuss progress on the area’s pedestrian underpasses – which were often ill-lit, covered in animal excrement, … Continue reading →

Posted in Community associations, Croydon Council, Phil Thomas, Surrey Street, Transport, Waddon | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

“Wastefield” finally plugs the £200m Hole in Bradford

Posted on October 18, 2012 by

Another straw in the wind for Croydon Council’s dependency on high street retail this morning, as the Telegraph and Argus is reporting that Westfield has cashed its chips on the controversial land holding in Bradford, where a vast, water-filled crater … Continue reading →

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

Croydon gets ready for a royal visit from the Queen of Shops

Posted on September 20, 2012 by

Croydon is readying itself for a royal visit today: Mary Queen of Shops may be heading into town. This is not to be confused with Kate Middleton’s in-laws pressing the flesh along London Road, back 13 months after last year’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Allders, Business, Community associations, Croydon 8/8, Fairfield, Jon Rouse, Surrey Street, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

One-third of Portas Fund being used to pay for a committee

Posted on September 5, 2012 by

Nearly one-third of the £100,000 “Portas Fund” promised to try to revive Croydon’s ailing Old Town shops and stalls is to be diverted to pay for the running of a council-run committee, Inside Croydon has discovered. Much was made earlier … Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Allders, Business, Community associations, Croydon Council, London-wide issues, Surrey Street | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Council staff’s special offer: a course on going self-employed

Posted on July 6, 2012 by

Despite the exciting prospect of nearly £1 million-worth of new furniture in the shiny new glass palace of council HQ that is leaning over the flyover, those members of council staff who have survived the cuts so far are finding … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Charity, Croydon Council, Eddy Arram, Jon Rouse | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Save Our Shops: Buy from an Allders concession this week

Posted on June 20, 2012 by

From the Editor Allders, Croydon’s landmark department store for 150 years, stands on the brink of closure. The administrators were called in last Friday, the Closing Down signs went up at the weekend, the website’s offline. Things are grim. In … Continue reading →

Posted in Allders, Business, Fairfield | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Tesco Town: South End community to meet this Friday

Posted on May 22, 2012 by

The first meeting of the South End Community Forum takes place this Friday, May 25, when sure to be close to the top of the agenda is the dire threat to local businesses of the decision of the Whitgift Foundation, … Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Business, History, Maria Gatland, Planning, Pubs, South Croydon, Steve O'Connell | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment