Speeches, balloons and a general party atmosphere surrounded shoppers who flocked to Westfield yesterday.  Four years since construction began and six months ahead of schedule, the eagerly awaited expansion to Westfield London shopping centre opened on Tuesday, 20th March. The phased expansion, which cost £600m, saw many new shops open, including a flagship John Lewis, H&M store, as well as an Adidas concept store.

While many stores opened for the first time at Westfield, some businesses have relocated to better space in the expansion from other parts of Westfield. The first shops opened at 10am, including Boots, Space NK, Curry’s PC world.  In the following hour, other shops opened such Adidas and Lush.

Many shops, such as Space NK and Flying Tiger (rebranded from Tiger) offered freebies and goody bags to the first customers in celebration of the new shops opening. Others offered free workshops, masterclasses and beauty treatments.

In addition, there are a few new dining options:  a third Pret-a-Manger, as well as a Pan’N’Ice ice cream stall, where shoppers can watch their ice cream being made in front of them.

The new complex also incorporates Westfield Square, a new public events space which will be surrounded with shops, dining and leisure outlets, planned to go live in the summer.

Westfield’s Media Team provided a 4-page press release confirming that the expansion will welcome 90 new businesses, and it is expected that 8,000 new jobs will be created, bringing a total of 20,000 jobs in total.  Hammersmith and Fulham Council have ensured that its residents have first choice on the new vacancies as well as negotiating many improvements to the area and welcomed the development as key to the £8bn White City Opportunity Area Regeneration.  Almost £4m has been given over to improve transport links at Shepherds Bush Overground station as well as almost 600 new parking spaces for bicycles to encourage cyclists.

There are still more businesses scheduled to open during the course of the next few months - there are noticeable parts of the new expansion which are still covered and under construction.  Work still needs to be done to the new car parks which are hard to navigate – in the rush to open in conjunction with the stores, a proper flow system is not yet in place.  Shopper, Deborah Johnson, told me “Cars were coming towards us on the same lane as we entered the car park.  Later, leaving, we drove around aimlessly for about 3 minutes looking for exit signs.  But we are so excited about the new opening.”

With stores such as Primark, as well as an Ichiba Japanese food hall and an All Star Lanes bowling alley, this is an exciting new development for West London whether you want to work, play, rest or dine.

Corey Hamilton Lane

Hampton School