Grand Central Birmingham is one of four shopping centres opening in 2015 and will have one of the largest John Lewis stores outside London.

Grand Central will bring even more shoppers to Birmingham

John Lewis’s investment in a new £35m store will make Birmingham the only city outside the capital with a Harvey Nichols, Selfridges, Debenhams, House of Fraser and a John Lewis. Opening later this year, the new 250,000 sq ft department store – one of the biggest John Lewis branches outside London – will anchor the new Grand Central Birmingham shopping centre.

Providing more than 200,000 sq ft of retail space for more than 40 new premium fashion and lifestyle shops, and more than 20 new concept cafes and restaurants, the centre is entering its final stage of construction as it prepares to open its doors this September. 

It’s been a long time coming for Britain’s second city, with complications regarding the construction of the centre, including issues relating to car parks and taxi ranks, delaying opening from pre-Christmas 2014.

But, according to Grand Central leasing director Keith Stone, the wait should be worth it, with the redevelopment enhancing Birmingham’s retail landscape. “Birmingham recognises that it needs to provide the best retail offer outside London,” Stone says, and Grand Central does just that – transforming its retail centre to rival the likes of Glasgow and Leeds.

The development is fully integrated with Birmingham New Street station on the site formerly known as the old Pallasades shopping centre. Commuters, tourists and shoppers will enter and exit via escalators and lifts that take them directly into the shopping centre’s vast atrium, together with entrances from New Street, Stephenson Street and the Bullring.

The domed, transparent roof, made from the same material used at the Eden Project in Cornwall, will be the heart of the centre, where shoppers will be encouraged to spend time socialising, being entertained “or even people-watching”, Stone says. “It’s designed to encourage dwell time.” 

The atrium itself is huge – in length it is almost the size of a football pitch, while its height would fit eight double-decker buses stacked on top of each other. For Stone, the fact Grand Central is above New Street station and will share a large majority of the same footfall is crucial. “Transport hubs are being recognised by the retail industry and becoming that much more important. New Street is in the heart of the city centre,” he says, describing it as the“major hub station for the UK”.

In fact, New Street is the largest and busiest of the three main railway stations serving Birmingham. It’s the major destination for Virgin Trains services from London Euston, Glasgow Central and Edinburgh Waverley via the West Coast Main Line, and the national hub of the CrossCountry network.

According to the Office of Rail Regulation, it’s the eighth busiest railway station in the UK and busiest outside London, with more than 40 million people using the station annually. It is also the busiest interchange station outside London, with more than 5.1 million passengers changing trains at the station annually.

Such figures prove the “reach of New Street is massive”, according to development director Richard Brown, who puts the catchment for Grand Central in the region of 5 million people.

But with popular shopping and leisure complex the Bullring and upmarket shopping and office development the Mailbox simply minutes down the road, how will Grand Central compete?

Grand Central in a nutshell

  • £150m premium retail and leisure destination
  • Opens September 2015
  • More than 200,000 sq ft of retail space
  • More than 40 new premium fashion and lifestyle shops and 20 cafes and restaurants
  • 85% of space currently signed
  • 5 million catchment
  • 250,000 sq ft John Lewis anchor store
  • Birmingham is ranked fourth in CACI’s retail rankings survey, behind London’s West End, Glasgow and Manchester

Complementing the city

“We have to provide something that doesn’t currently exist,” asserts Stone, and that thing is a premium retail offer with an experiential element. “Our aim is to try to introduce the best experience for the consumer – and not just in retailing,” adds Brown.

According to Brown, the new scheme will be “differentiated, rather than homogenous”. “We’re not trying to compete – it’s about complementing the rest of the city and about bringing in more spend. We predict over 50 million people a year will visit Grand Central, some daily visitors and commuters, others shoppers.”

Among the biggest draws for shoppers will be John Lewis, which signed up to the scheme in 2011 and has been critical to its development. Brown predicts customers will flood into Birmingham off the back of John Lewis’s opening. “It will pull in newcomers. A lot of customers aren’t coming into Birmingham. A premium retail offering isn’t in every centre, so therefore it will bring in more spend to the city centre, and will benefit the whole of Birmingham, not just Grand Central.”

The 250,000 sq ft John Lewis store will stretch across four floors, offering more than 350,000 products including fashion, furniture, homewares, beauty and the latest technology.

“Our aspiration is for John Lewis Birmingham to become the cornerstone of wider regeneration in the south side of the city centre”

Andy Street, John Lewis

The opening of one of the biggest John Lewis branches outside London also strengthens the perception that Birmingham – in retail terms – plays second fiddle only to the capital. “Birmingham will have all the main players,” Stone says, with the Bullring boasting Selfridges and Debenhams, while Harvey Nichols, Marks & Spencer and House of Fraser are all nearby.

According to Stone, the early assurance that John Lewis wanted to be the anchor tenant enabled the scheme to attract a high calibre of retail names. “We could build up a premium brand off the back of John Lewis committing,” he explains.

These premium high street retail names include The White Company, Joules, Cath Kidston, Kiehl’s, L’Occitane, Fat Face and Monsoon Accessorize. In fact, about 80% of the retailers coming in are new to the city, Brown claims.

Grand Central’s premium positioning will be new for Birmingham, he adds. “Birmingham’s never had that – there’s been a big gap in premium offering in the city. A big consequence means a lot more affluent shoppers aren’t coming to Birmingham to shop.”

The retailers already signed up to the scheme certainly aren’t the only ones recognising the opportunity to be part of such a massive regeneration. Where the station sits has always been a “busy thoroughfare”, Brown claims, and premises facing the main entrance have already been snapped up by developers, quick to recognise the opportunity to be positioned opposite the main entry and exit points of the city’s newest shopping destination.

21st-century dining

The food and beverage line-up “resonates with a 21st-century offering”, according to Stone. Popular eating outlets such as Pho, Caffé Concerto, Square Pie and Tapas Revolution will open restaurants in Birmingham for the first time. Most are currently only found in London and the Southeast.

“The investment from such well-known dining brands further demonstrates why we are so confident of the long-term benefits Grand Central and New Street Station will bring to the city,” he adds.

Technology will also be a key feature of the centre, with touchscreens helping shoppers with navigation and additional information. On the outside walls of the centre, facing out to passers-by, three digital screens in the shape of eyes will feature advertising and public information.

“Grand Central was the obvious choice for our first standalone store in Birmingham, being located at the heart of the city’s retail offer”

Sarah King, The White Company

There’s no question that Birmingham is a city on the up thanks to the landmark transformational changes taking place. Not only will the opening of Grand Central result in it becoming the only city outside London to offer five of the UK’s major department stores, but it will increase investor interest, deepen the sense of community and further improve the city’s already impressive retail and leisure prospects.

As Stone concludes: “Grand Central is a new premium destination with all the benefits of regeneration. Birmingham recognises that it needs to provide the best retail offer outside of London. All of this investment has a huge spin off and benefits abound in the city centre.”

More major openings in 2015

When Birmingham Grand Central opens its doors in September it will join just three other shopping centre schemes opening this year. How does it compare?

Friars Walk, Newport

  • Developed by Queensberry Real Estate, opening November 2015
  • 390,000 sq ft city-centre project already 65% leased
  • Anchored by full-line, flagship 93,000 sq ft Debenhams department store. Other brands signed include H&M, River Island, Next, Topshop and New Look
  • Leisure and restaurants also signed include Nandos, Las Iguanas, GBK, Prezzo, Le Bistrot Pierre, and an eight-screen Cineworld multiplex cinema
  • 360 parking spaces and a new bus station
  • Upon completion, Friars Walk will place Newport 90th in the Venuescore UK rankings – a jump of 108 places
  • Strutt & Parker, Lunson Mitchenall, and Cooke & Arkwright are appointed joint agents for Friars Walk

Flemingate, Beverley, East Yorkshire

  • Developed by Wykeland Group, opening in the autumn
  • 162,561 sq ft of retail and leisure space
  • Anchored by 40,000 sq ft Debenhams and 890 seat five-screen digital Parkway cinema
  • 19 retail units in total and seven restaurants, plus 500-space multi-storey car park
  • Retail brands to have signed include H&M and Outfit
  • Catchment of 638,307 people and £1.3bn available spend
  • The catchment is one of the most affluent in the UK, with 49% from the top three Acorn profiles, versus 27% for the UK and 25% for the region
  • Fawley Watson Booth and McMullen Wilson are responsible for the retail leasing, and Tushingham Moore looks after catering leasing

The Broadway, Bradford

  • £260m development owned by Meyer Bergman, with Westfield acting as development partner to lead the project in design, construction and leasing, and to manage the centre on completion
  • 570,000 sq ft of floor space in the city centre, plus 1,300-space multi-storey
  • car park
  • 70 retail units, anchored by Marks & Spencer, Debenhams and Next
  • Other signings include Boots, New Look, River Island and JD Sports
  • Post-development, Bradford’s catchment spend potential will increase by 78% on 2013 to £968.4m
  • Bradford will be propelled to 26th in the CACI UK retail rankings – a rise of 59 places
  • The city will be the third largest retail centre in the region and will boast one of the youngest catchments of any major retail centre in the UK