EAGLE CENTRE

Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
 

Next is the latest store to commit to moving into the new £310m Eagle Centre extension in Derby. Next, which currently has two stores in Albion Street and St Peter's Street, revealed it has "signed for a large store" in the Eagle Centre extension. Concerns have been raised that the Eagle Centre extension is attracting mainly stores that already exist in Derby, thus creating retail "holes" in other parts of the city centre. But Westfield, joint owner of the Eagle Centre with Hermes Property Asset Management, claims it is attracting "keen interest" from top name retailers looking to open stores in Derby for the first time. Westfield also revealed that WH Smith will be relocating from its existing store in the "old" Eagle Centre to the new extension.

It will be joined by Argos and Wilkinson's, both are in the Castlefields Main Centre which is being flattened to make way for the new development. Peter Miller, development director for Westfield, said, "Over the coming months we expect to reveal many more names as retailers new to Derby sign up to take space in the Eagle Centre." Traders in Iron Gate and Sadler Gate raised fears that the development would sound the death knell of shopping at their end of town. However, Derby Cityscape, the regeneration company overseeing a proposed £1bn regeneration of the city centre, has pledged to take measures to avoid this scenario.

It has proposed the creation of a more definite "high street" between the Eagle Centre and Iron Gate, with clearer signs and seating along the way to draw people towards the older part of town. The Cityscape plan also proposes the "opening up" of hidden courtyards behind Sadler Gate to create an improved "niche" shopping area to attract tourists. Mr Miller added, "We are working closely with Derby City Council and Derby Cityscape and applaud their commitment to this major regeneration scheme which will reinforce Derby's position as one of the three principal shopping destinations in the East Midlands." (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph)

Traders at Derby's Eagle Centre Market fear plans for a 12-screen cinema and casino at the site could ruin their businesses. The owner of the Eagle Centre, Westfield, presented plans for the development at a meeting of around 90 traders and Derby City Council officials at the Council House. It wants to build a two-storey "leisure scheme" above the East Street market, which is leased by the city council, to house the cinema and casino, as well as cafes and restaurants. As part of the work, 69 pillars would need to be erected inside the market to support the upper levels.

The work would take around 20 months to complete, during which time 45 of the 130 stalls in the market would need to be closed temporarily. Formal plans for the redevelopment have not yet been submitted to the council and it is not known how much it would cost. While most of the traders at the meeting were in favour of the proposal in theory, they believe the disruption caused by the work and the intrusiveness of the pillars could destroy business in the market.

Pete Ramsden, owner of Pete's Heel Bar and the market traders' committee chairman, said, "What they plan is a fabulous idea, but it will cause all sorts of problems for those of us who work in the market. They gave us lots of figures and statistics at the meeting to tell us how many extra people this will bring in and how it will help our business. But this is something for the night time, and we work in the daytime. A lot of older people shop here because they have been brought up using markets. How will they react to all the building work and all these extra pillars?"

The traders believe the scheme, together with the £200m redevelopment of the Eagle Centre and the Riverlights development, will hit trade. Mr Ramsden added, "The general feeling is that we are in the middle of it all and the disruption is bound to cause problems." Greengrocer Andy Woodhouse, whose family has run a market stall in Derby since 1847, said, "It's not our market, it's not the council's market, it's the people of Derby's market. We are looking after their interests. The market just would not be usable during the work."

Westfield and Hermes, joint owners of the Eagle Centre, want to create a new £20m state-of-the-art 12-screen luxury cinema as part of the shopping centre's redevelopment programme. The new cinema would include auditoriums with leather rocking recliners, reserved seating for all performances, live pre-show introductions and deluxe catering services.

Peter Miller, Westfield development director, said, "The new cinema will be a fantastic new facility and will help to support the regeneration of major areas within the city. It is anticipated that it will help support the city's existing restaurants and bars as well as encouraging many more operators to open within Derby, creating a more vibrant city centre. With this as a major evening attraction, we expect that many of the centre's retailers will be keen to extend their trading hours."

John Cadwallader, chief executive of Derby Cityscape said, "We are delighted that Westfield is bringing such an innovated cinema concept to Derby and this is another step forward to Derby being a city or the future."

Workstation, a project to help Derby's unemployed to apply for the new jobs which are being created at the Eagle Centre, is being launched to improve skills of the jobless to give them a better chance of taking advantage of the new openings. Workstation is a £695,000 project, funded by organisations including Westfield, Derby City Council and the Job Centre, which aims to fill those vacancies.

Project manager Suman Gupta said, "There is a massive amount of jobs that will come to Derby when the Eagle Centre extension opens, and what nobody wants is a brand new centre with no staff to run it. Hopefully, we can help recruit the staff that are needed and at the same time help unemployed people get back into jobs." When retailers eventually decide to advertise for jobs, their first port of call will be Workstation. (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Sep/06)