Thursday 14 September 2006
Sir Stuart Hampson, Chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, today unveiled plans to invest £50 million in the development at Stratford City, in the heart of East London.
The scheme will create a new John Lewis department store with a new Waitrose as anchors to Westfields Stratford City retail project. The John Lewis Partnership is the first retailer to publicly commit to the project.
The Partnership will build a full range John Lewis department store (240,000 sq ft) and a Waitrose (32,000 sq ft) - creating a strong attraction for customers and around 800 high quality jobs, in a 1.8 million sq ft retail and leisure development adjacent to the proposed Olympic Park in East London.
This marks a significant step forward in the delivery of a quality shopping environment and comprehensive infrastructure in 2010 in advance of the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.
The John Lewis Partnership is working with landowners London & Continental Railways and Stratford City Developments Ltd (now wholly owned by Westfield) to open the new shops by Autumn 2010. Both stores will comply with the John Lewis Partnership's Sustainable Building Framework, to be published in the Autumn.
Sir Stuart Hampson, Chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, said: 'As the only retailer to have backed the Olympic bid campaign, I am delighted to announce the Partnership's continuing commitment to the Olympic project with a £50 million investment in a new John Lewis department store and a Waitrose in East London.
'This will form part of the John Lewis Partnerships nationwide expansion programme which will see 10 new John Lewis department stores opening over the next 10 years and the continued strategic nationwide expansion of Waitrose.
'It will create sustainable new jobs, boost the economy, help to regenerate the area for the local community and provide a proud and lasting legacy after the 2012 London Olympic Games.
'We are already actively involved in investing in the regeneration of London's West End with our £60 million redevelopment of John Lewis Oxford Street and today's announcement is a natural extension of our overall commitment to London as a vibrant capital city and a great place to live, work and shop.'
Michael Gutman, MD Westfield, UK and Europe, said: 'It is certainly a significant milestone for the Stratford City project and for the Westfield business in the UK.'
Stephen Jordan, managing director, London & Continental Railways, said: 'Bringing the John Lewis Partnership stores on board represents another significant milestone for Stratford City as we look to develop a major new metropolitan centre for London around the high speed rail line and the new International station at Stratford.'
David Higgins, Chief Executive, Olympic Delivery Authority, said: 'We welcome the announcement of the first retailer to take a store at Stratford City, which will contribute to the long term sustainable legacy of the Stratford area after the Games. The long-term vitality of the area depends not just on the effect of the 2012 Games but on partnerships with local and commercial partners. That is what will make the long-term legacy a success.'
Stratford City development highlights:
The John Lewis Partnership - The John Lewis Partnership is one of the UK's top ten retail businesses with 26 department stores and 180 Waitrose supermarkets. The John Lewis Partnership is also the country's largest example of worker co-ownership where all 64,000 staff are Partners in the business.
John Lewis - John Lewis will open at least 10 new department stores from 2007 with plans already announced for Liverpool, Leicester, Oxford, Leeds, Sheffield, Cardiff and Portsmouth.
Follow this link for more information about the new department stores on www.johnlewis.com .
A typical John Lewis stocks more than 350,000 separate lines in any one year and seeks to be an all-under-one-roof destination for an entire region of shoppers. Fashions, furnishings and household goods of all kinds are offered with excellent service and free delivery - all at competitive prices. 15,000 lines focused on the best of home and giftware are also available online at www.johnlewis.com .
Waitrose - Waitrose supermarkets are dedicated to offering high quality food that has been responsibly sourced, together with high standards of customer service. The supermarket is renowned for its high standards of provenance, its commitment to ethical sourcing and high standards of animal welfare, together with its support for British agriculture.
Follow this link to find out more information about Waitrose branches on www.waitrose.com .
Westfield - Westfield specialises in the management, leasing, development, design, construction and funding of shopping centres. Westfield has approximately £23 billion of assets under management in a portfolio of 120 shopping centres across Australia, New Zealand, the United States and the United Kingdom, with more than 22,000 retailers and approximately 10 million sq metres of retail space. In the UK Westfield controls 10 town centre schemes in London and the South East, the East and West Midlands, Yorkshire and Northern Ireland.
LCR - London & Continental Railways. LCR is delivering the UK's first high speed rail line on time and on budget. In 1996, following an international competition, London & Continental Railways Limited (LCR) was selected by the Government to build and operate the multi-billion pound Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL), the high speed rail line from central London to the mouth of the Channel Tunnel. LCR also controls large areas of brownfield land around the new stations at St Pancras and Stratford. LCR is leading two of the largest regeneration schemes in Europe on these sites. LCR also owns and operates Eurostar (UK) Limited, the UK arm of the Eurostar train service. The high speed rail link is being constructed under a private-public partnership contract between the UK Government and LCR and is on schedule and within budget for completion in 2007.
John Lewis Partnership
Louise Thomson
Corporate PR Manager, John Lewis
Telephone: 020 7828 1000
Direct Line: 020 7592 6223
Mobile: 07808 574117
Citigate Dewe Rogerson
Simon Rigby
Telephone: 0207 282 2847
For Westfield enquiries please contact
James Olley / Fiona Laffan (Brunswick Group)
Telephone: 0207 404 5959
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