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City shops to rival London’s West End

The City of London could be transformed into a seven days a week shopping destination to rival that of popular West End locations, with plans to create as much as 1.5m sq ft of retail space – equivalent to the Westfield shopping centre in Shepherd’s Bush.

Retailers are keen to open stores in an area that not only boasts some of the wealthiest people in the country during the week, but also has the potential for strong weekend trade from surrounding neighbourhoods and tourists attracted to two of the capital’s top destinations, St Paul’s Cathedral and the Tate Modern. Canary Wharf has shown that office locations can also serve as large shopping areas, as they have done in many other global capitals.

The latest plans will see a revamp of the shopping around Broadgate, one of the largest schemes to emerge from the 1980s development boom. It follows the part-sale of the estate to Blackstone, the US private equity giant, by British Land last summer.

The 16-building campus currently has a modest shopping area, including a seasonal ice rink and a number of bars, although agents say the type and scale of the facilities should be improved, if only to meet demand from its own 30,000 workers.

British Land and Blackstone have begun a study of their tenants and are expected to work closely with Network Rail and Crossrail to improve neighbouring Liverpool Street station as part of any strategy for the area.

Blackstone and British Land declined to comment.

There is considerable retail potential around Broadgate, according to CB Richard Ellis, the property agent, in a report on the market. It said the “introduction of modern shopping space would also serve to reposition the area, almost matching Cheapside’s strength as a retail and catering attraction”.