Le mie ricette per la real estate community(WESTFIELD STRATFORD CITY WINS TWO PRESTIGIOUS ICSC AWARDS)
At the ICSC European Shopping Centre Awards today, in Stockholm, Westfield Stratford City in East London was presented with two prestigious awards – ‘New Development (Extra Large)’ and the ‘Regeneration Distinction’ Award in conjunction with London Borough of Newham.
The highly prestigious ICSC European Shopping Centre Awards are considered ‘best in class’ industry awards and are judged by industry experts.
As the largest urban retail and leisure destination in Europe, Westfield Stratford City delivered an exceptional first year of trade and broke footfall records with over 47 million visitors; generated close to £1bn worth of sales in 2012; and was an integral part of the London Olympic Games experience at the gateway to the Olympic Park.
During the construction of the 1.9m sq ft(175,000 sq m) centre Westfield worked very closely with politicians and officers at the London Borough of Newham to ensure that the centre acted as a catalyst for further regeneration and private investment into the Borough.
The development of Westfield Stratford City was an integral part of the regeneration of east London and the first piece of the Olympic legacy. The project created over 27,000 jobs during construction, 10 per cent of which were from the local area and over 180 apprenticeships / training. Upon opening, Westfield created over 10,000 permanent jobs, of which at least 40% are residents of east London and over 2,600 from Newham.
Westfield remainscommitted to creating ongoing employment opportunities for the long-term local unemployed. In 2011, Westfield in partnership with London Borough of Newham established The Skills Place, the first permanent training academy at a shopping centre to offer a holistic training program for careers in retail, hospitality and leisure. The Skills Place has supported over 3000 residents into work at Westfield Stratford City (50% of which are 18 – 24 year olds) since the centre opened in September 2011.
John Burton, Westfield Director of Development Westfield said, “We are honoured that Westfield has been awarded these prestigious ICSC European Shopping Centre awards. The success of Westfield Stratford City is testament to an excellent public and private partnership.
“We will continue to work closely with all levels of Government on the regeneration of the East End as we focus on thenext phase of development at Westfield Stratford City including offices andresidential.”
Accepting the award on behalf of London Borough of Newham, CEO Kim Bromley-Derry said “These awards recognise the successful public private partnership between Westfield and Newham Council which has helped to transform the lives of Newham residents, boost the local economy and attract further investment in the borough. It serves as a blueprint for future developments.”
“By working closely with Westfield, we have ensured that residents have directly benefited at every stage of the shopping centre’s development. Our Workplace scheme has helped thousands of residents, many of them long-term unemployed, into work. Skills Place, our partnership initiative with Westfield has equipped local people with the skills to turn those jobs into fulfilling and rewarding careers. This all fits in with Mayor Sir Robin Wales’ long term vision for Newham as a place where people choose to live, work and stay.”
As the next generation retail development, Westfield Stratford City has 250 shops and over 70 places to eat and drink; a 17-screen, all digital, state of the art VUE cinema; a 14-lane All Star Lanes bowling alley and Aspers, the UK’s largest 24 hour casino. Not to mention 130,000 sq ft of office space at One Stratford Place and 617 rooms in three hotels including a Premier Inn, Executive Staybridge Suite and 4 star flagship Holiday Inn.
Westfield Stratford City – The facts:
- 1.9 million sq ft of retail space
- On average 800,000 weekly visitors
- 47 million shoppers in the first year of trading
- The two London centres (Westfield London and Westfield Stratford City) in 2012 attracted over 70 million shoppers and over £1.9m in sales
- First shopping centre to be the Gateway to the Olympic Park attracting 8.5 customers over the Games period
- 27,000 jobs created during the construction
- 10,000 permanent jobs created, 2,000 of which for the long term local unemployed
- First shopping centre to achieve a BREEAM excellent rating
Source : Company