Shop till you drop in Shepherd's Bush

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Leona Lewis and M&S models wow crowds at new Westfield shopping centre

Thousands of visitors flocked to the new Westfield London shopping centre on Thursday morning to listen to Leona Lewis and the Sugababes and mingle with celebrities ranging from Yasmin Le Bon to Dannii Minogue.

Queues of people were waiting at 9am as the doors were flung open and there was a mad dash as shoppers ran into the shopping centre’s central atrium.  

As the store opened, model Yasmin Le Bon cut the ribbon at House of Fraser, shortly followed by a glitzy opening at Marks & Spencer by catwalk queens Twiggy and Erin O’Connor. 

Dannii Minogue signed photographs and Leona Lewis was greeted with rapturous applause as she performed following the opening ceremony, which featured speeches from Mayor Boris Johnson and a performance by the London Gospel Choir.  

The much-talked about recession was little in evidence as shoppers stocked up on clothes, coffees and goods from a new Apple store.

 In his opening speech, Mayor Boris Johnson said he would take the opportunity to buy a new suit at the shopping centre. He said: “It is a wonderful vote of confidence in London — I am absolutely thrilled .. I think it was prudent decision for all of you to give Thursday morning at work a miss and come shopping".

 

Facts and Figures

• The £1.6billion Westfield London shopping centre in Shepherd's Bush covers 43-acres, making it the largest urban mall in Europe.
• About 7,000 jobs have been created by the development, with 1,000 going to local people.
• The mall houses 265 stores, boasts more than 40 places to eat, a state-of-the-art 14-screen cinema and a health and beauty retreat.
• Anchor tenants include Marks & Spencer, Debenhams, House of Fraser and Next.
• Westfield has ploughed £200million into improving public transport to the area with a new Shepherd’s Bush Overground station and a Hammersmith & City Line Wood Lane station  now open.
• Westfield has also funded a major refurbishment to Shepherd’s Bush Underground and created a new bus station and routes.

November 10, 2008