These aren’t the Olympics, these are the M&S Olympics

Peter Bill
30 Jul 2010

As the world knows, the Olympic Games start in July 2012. But 70% of the visitors will pass through a shopping centre which opens in October or November 2011. So, the first sight that spectators disgorging from Stratford Tube will see is good old Marks & Spencer.

Sadly, a quick whizz around the £1.45 billion development on Wednesday left me feeling slightly ashamed to be British. For what will be the largest retail centre in Europe is being developed by an Australian company, using its own money and managing the construction itself.

No big UK developer had the guts, vision or money to go anywhere near the job of building the 1.9 million sq ft centre that sits massively between the Tube station and the Olympic Park. But Aussie shopping centres giant Westfield see things differently.

Their man in charge at Stratford is John Burton, a moustachioed Aussie given to wearing colourful striped ties, who cheerfully picks up litter as he walks around a very tidy building site.

“We are creating a new metropolitan centre for London,” says Burton, of what's branded as Westfield Stratford City. “It will be located by the largest urban park created in Europe in over 150 years. By the time of the Olympics this emerging new city will start to become a reality.”

Today more than 2500 workers are buzzing around the 70%-finished development which promises to become a more spectacular version of Westfield London, the firm's only slightly smaller mega-mall at White City.

The workforce will rise to 4300 early next year as the shopfitters move in. The Stratford centre has a single-curved indoor avenue of Westfield London proportions. But the outdoor boulevards are at least as long.

The whole centre has room for 300 retailers and a 12-screen cinema. About 60% of the space is let to the usual brands. Anchor tenants M&S and John Lewis, with Waitrose in the basement, are housed in separate buildings. This goes some way to reducing the bulk of the development. But make no mistake; this is a knock-your-socks-off-sized scheme. And it will get bigger yet.

Before Westfield took control there was a furious 12-month battle for the development rights on the 180-acre site, once called simply Stratford City. The tussle erupted in late 2005 after Britain won the games and the land suddenly became more valuable.

The billionaire Reuben brothers, Simon and David, with Aussie builders Multiplex owned a 50% stake. A small UK developer, Stanhope, had 25%, the same size as Westfield's stake. After much wrangling Westfield won and bought out the others for £140 million.

It has left it with permission for far more than a shopping centre. Westfield can build 1.1 million square feet of office space and is building 130,000 sq ft of that by 2012. There are two hotels, one Premier Inn with 267 beds and another, with 350 beds, with a soon-to-be-announced hotelier.

If that were not enough, just part of the land on which Westfield plans to hire out hospitality tents during Olympic fortnight (see panel on the left) can hold 1200 new homes.

Westfield making money within tent

Space seekers from around the globe are in London this summer seeking spots to hold receptions during the Olympics. Those looking include global sports bodies, national organising bodies, individual teams from each sport as well as official sponsors, plus all sorts of unofficial groups looking for an Olympian excuse for a beano.

This fact was unearthed by Australian shopping centres giant Westfield, which, as luck would have it, has a large amount of ground available in front of its shopping centre in Stratford. The land has uninterrupted views of the Olympic stadium. One day it will be filled with office blocks and new homes.

But not yet: a survey showed high prices are being charged in central London and that many of the obvious venues have gone. So Westfield is talking to the Olympic organisers about leasing land to accommodate at least 200,000 sq ft of tents, where parties can be held. Westfield director, John Burton, says the stadium backdrop also makes it a “great spot” for TV pundits to opine.