Tag Archives: Whitgift Centre

MP Jones ‘gravely concerned’ over closure of her old school

Local MP claims she is ‘picking up information from a standing start’ over plans to close 600-pupil girls’ private school, but says she has obtained guarantees from the property Foundation that runs the site. By STEVEN DOWNES Sarah Jones, the … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Croydon Central, Education, Old Palace, Sarah Jones MP, Schools, Whitgift Foundation | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Old Palace closure brought on by shaky Foundation finances

CROYDON IN CRISIS: There’s not much that has happened in Croydon in the last dozen years or so that cannot be traced back, in some respect, to the £1billion-plus non-development of the Whitgift Centre. And as the accounts of landowners … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Business, CPO, Education, Jane Burton, Old Palace, Schools, Trinity School, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation, Whitgift School | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Falling rolls and rising fees: how Old Palace got squeezed

Our education correspondent, GENE BRODIE, examines the likely reasons and consequences of yesterday’s announcement of the decision to close one of Croydon’s oldest and best-known girls’ schools For the 80 or so 11-year-old girls who started their secondary school careers … Continue reading

Posted in Education, Jane Burton, Old Palace, Schools, Trinity School, Whitgift Foundation, Whitgift School | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Whitgift Foundation decides to close Old Palace School in 2025

Pupils at a £20,000 per year independent school in Old Town which is operated by the borough’s biggest land-owners will be told at assembly on Friday morning that it is to close after ‘many years’ of financial struggles EXCLUSIVE by … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Charity, Education, Jane Burton, Old Palace, Schools, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation | Tagged , , , , , | 16 Comments

Squatters take over Brick by Brick’s abandoned office building

Perhaps this is the start of a people’s fightback against the Croydon Establishment. A group of squatters calling themselves “Reclaim Croydon” has moved in to the abandoned offices of Brick by Brick in the town centre, to show the high … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Brick by Brick, Business, Colm Lacey, Community associations, Croydon Council, Housing, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Council’s debt costs could hit £70m next year warns Mayor

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Jason Perry says he’s still hoping to get a Government write-off of a chunk of the borough’s borrowing, but otherwise he’s short on ideas or solutions. KEN LEE endured the latest ‘Question Time’ at Norbury, so that … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry, Norbury, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Perry’s council refuses to name its design review panellists

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Mayor decided to re-boot Negrini’s Place Review Panel, but after almost a year’s delay, the identities of the ‘experts’ assembled remain closely guarded secrets. By WALTER CRONXITE “Just what are they trying to hide?” a Katharine Street … Continue reading

Posted in Brick by Brick, Business, Croydon Council, Design Review Panel, Environment, Jo Negrini, Mayor Jason Perry, Place Review Panel, Planning, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Farewell Jamie Reid, artist and anarchist, forgotten by Croydon

Jamie Reid, the anarchist artist and graphic designer who devised the designs and artwork that defined the punk era’s iconoclasm, has died. He was 76. Reid’s ransom note-style collage work for the Sex Pistols was “a central pillar of the … Continue reading

Posted in Art, Croydon School of Art, History, Music | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Dominoes at Windrush Centre, Whitgift Centre, Aug 12 and 19

Posted in Activities, Community associations | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Serious concern raised over brutal end to town centre artwork

EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES There’s growing concerns and “disappointment” that Croydon, the 2023 Borough of Culture, has managed to lose yet another significant piece of public artwork, right from under the noses of the council. A much-admired, mid-20th Century frieze … Continue reading

Posted in AMP House, Art, Borough of Culture 2023, Business, Chris Clark, Croydon Council, East Croydon, Environment, Fairfield, History, Property, Ria Patel, Stiles Harold Williams, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Having a giraffe! Business group spends thousands on statues

Town centre business group Croydon BID is spending thousands of pounds on a collection of oddly-decorated, mostly eight-foot-tall fibre glass statues of giraffes, which are due to be distributed among shops and on street corners later this summer, in the … Continue reading

Posted in Art, Borough of Culture 2023, Business, Croydon BID | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Now German shoe retailer decides to give Croydon the boot

Shoe retailer Deichmann is the latest business to decide to close their store in central Croydon. As Inside Croydon reported exclusively earlier this week, the Sainsbury’s supermarket in the Whitgift Centre, which has traded there ever since the shopping mall … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , | 15 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

Whitgift Centre ever-present Sainsbury’s opts to shut up shop

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Latest exit of flagship store will be a hammer blow to the town centre. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES The exodus of major stores from the blighted Whitgift Centre is about to get worse still, with Sainsbury’s to … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 16 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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 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 , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Perry blasted after trying to take credit for Westfield’s new deal

Political correspondent WALTER CRONXITE on how elected Mayor’s grandstanding over a deal with which he had no involvement has been seen through by ordinary Council Tax-payers Croydon Mayor Jason Perry came under fire last night, as he tried to take … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Centrale, Mayor Jason Perry, Sean Fitzsimons, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Westfield seals deal to buy Hammerson out of town centre

Westfield’s parent company has this afternoon confirmed that they have bought out Hammerson, the owners of the Centrale shopping centre, from their half-share of the Croydon Partnership, the joint venture which has inflicted a decade’s worth of development blight on … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Centrale, CPO, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Centrale’s owners set to sell-up to Westfield in cut-price deal

Our vacated shopping centre correspondent, MT WALLETTE, on the latest multi-million-pound boardroom manoeuvres over Croydon’s developer-blighted North End It has taken more than a decade, but Westfield’s hostile takeover of the Centrale shopping mall in Croydon town centre looks as … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Centrale, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

M&S announces Purley Way store opening date as Apr 27

Using the former John Lewis At Home site, the Croydon 38,000sqft clothing store and foodhall is the first of 20 stores being opened by Marks and Spencer in 2023 Marks and Spencer has announced Thursday April 27 as the official … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Parking, Purley Way, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

London Repair Week activities, Whitgift Centre, Mar 20-26

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Free cyanotypes photographic workshop, Turf Projects, Mar 25

Posted in Art, Turf Projects, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Windrush Generation’s exhibition is playing sounds of the 70s

After a week spent playing ‘silly games’ with the borough’s politicians, for a deserved break, KEN TOWL got serious about Lovers’ Rock Croydon’s musical heritage is immense. It is so rich and varied that the council is putting together some … Continue reading

Posted in Activities, Art, Borough of Culture 2023, Community associations, History, Ken Towl, Music, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Westfield non-developers facing £5m fine for failed supermall

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Council concedes it is virtually powerless over land-owners and developers for long-delayed regeneration scheme, as influential scrutiny chair admits her committee is not convinced things will change. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES The company formed 10 years ago … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Centrale, CPO, Croydon Council, Growth Zone, Heather Cheesbrough, Jo Negrini, Mayor Jason Perry, Planning, Property, Rowenna Davis, Tony Newman, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 24 Comments