Lakeside Shopping Centre, is a large out-of-town

shopping centre A shopping center ( American English) or shopping centre (Commonwealth English), also called a shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes under one roof. The first known colle ...

located in

West Thurrock West Thurrock is an area, former civil parish and traditional Church of England parish in Thurrock, Essex, England, located 17.5 miles (28.1 km) east south-east of Charing Cross, London. In 1931 the parish had a population of 5,153. On 1 Apr ...

Essex Essex () is a Ceremonial counties of England, county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the Riv ...

just beyond the eastern boundary of

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness Greatness is a concept of a state of superiority affecting a person or object in a particular place or area. Greatness can also be attributed to individuals who possess a natural ability to be better than al ...

. It was constructed on the site of a former chalk quarry. The first tenants moved into the complex in 1988 and it was completed in 1990, being opened on 25 October of that year by Princess Alexandra of Kent, Marcus Bradford and Angus Ogilvy. New spaces in the red car park were added as recently as October 2019. The shopping centre, in addition to the retail parks, forms one of the largest shopping areas in a single location within

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, with almost of retail space on a site of . The community of

Chafford Hundred Chafford Hundred is an area in the Borough of Thurrock in the ceremonial county of Essex. Chafford Hundred is north-west of Grays. Its railway station serves the area and Lakeside Shopping Centre. Lakeside Shopping Centre is in West Thurro ...

has grown to the east of the centre since its opening. Its main rival is the Bluewater Shopping Centre in Greenhithe,

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, just across the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

. The centre was rebranded as Intu Lakeside in 2013 following the renaming of parent Capital Shopping Centres as Intu. The centre was sold in 2020 after Intu went into

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, admini ...

. In November 2020, Lakeside was taken over by Savills, and was renamed Lakeside Shopping Centre. Lakeside has been described as being Thurrock's

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with '' de jure'' ("by l ...

town centre.

Thurrock Council Thurrock Borough Council, usually known as simply Thurrock Council, is the local authority for the borough of Thurrock in Essex, England. Since 1997, Thurrock has been a unitary authority, combining the functions of a non-metropolitan county ...

wants to make it a "regional town centre", with plans to build new shops, facilities and 3,000 homes. A road linking it to the nearby Lakeside Basin will also be built.

Main shopping centre

The shopping centre is the eleventh largest in Britain with available as retail floorspace - the MetroCentre in

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Millennium Bridge, The Sage, and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary ...

, after its expansion in 2004, is the largest. There are over 250 shops (including the

anchor store In retail, an "anchor tenant", sometimes called an "anchor store", "draw tenant", or "key tenant", is a considerably larger tenant in a shopping mall, often a department store or retail chain. They are typically located at the ends of malls. Wi ...

s of

Marks & Spencer Marks and Spencer Group plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks's or Marks & Sparks) is a major British multinational retailer with headquarters in Paddington, London that specialises in selling clothing, beauty, home ...

House of Fraser House of Fraser (also operating as Frasers) is a British department store group with 44 locations across the United Kingdom, which is now part of Frasers Group. It was established in Glasgow, Scotland in 1849 as Arthur and Fraser. By 1891, it ...

and

Primark Primark Stores Limited (; trading as Penneys in the Republic of Ireland) is an Irish multinational fast fashion retailer with headquarters in Dublin, Ireland. It has stores across Europe and in the United States. The Penneys brand is not us ...

- Debenhams was also an anchor store until its closure in May 2021), 50 cafes and restaurants, and a lake named Alexandra Lake with a PADI certified diving school complex. Intu Lakeside has on average 500,000 visitors per week. It is currently open on weekdays from 10:00 to 22:00, and on Saturday from 09:00 to 21:00, and Sunday from 11:00 to 17:00. Intu have constantly rebuffed the rumours that circulate online about the presence of 3 "golden parking spaces"; apparently if you manage to find and park on one of these you get a free day's shopping, and half price coffee at all the food outlets. The centre's car parks have capacity for 11,857 cars. Following Intu Properties plc entering administration in June 2020, a subsidiary of the company called Intu SGS received funding to take full control of the centre along with Braehead, Victoria Centre and Intu Watford. The transfer from Intu to Intu SGS is expected to take place by the end of 2020, and will involve Global Mutual becoming asset manager of the centres and Savills serving as property manager.

Transport connections

The centre has a direct link to

Chafford Hundred railway station Chafford Hundred Lakeside railway station, also known simply as Chafford Hundred station, is located on a single-track branch line of the London, Tilbury and Southend line, serving the town of Chafford Hundred as well as Lakeside Shopping Centr ...

where

c2c Trenitalia c2c Limited,Companies House extract company no 789726 ...

trains run to London Fenchurch Street via Upminster and

West Ham West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham. The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancient ...

or east towards Southend Central via Grays and

Stanford-le-Hope Stanford-le-Hope is a town, former civil parish and Church of England parish situated in the county of Essex, England. Often known locally simply as Stanford, the town is within the unitary authority of Thurrock and located 23.8 miles (38.4&nb ...

. The centre is connected to the

M25 motorway The M25 or London Orbital Motorway is a major road encircling most of Greater London. The motorway is one of the most important roads in the UK and one of the busiest. Margaret Thatcher opened the final section in 1986, making the M25 the lon ...

which is London's outermost ring road running south towards

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames estuary, is Thurrock in ...

and Gatwick and North towards Enfield,

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

and

Heathrow Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others bei ...

. As well as the M25 the centre is connected to the A13 road which connects central and east

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Basildon Basildon ( ) is the largest town in the borough of Basildon, within the county of Essex, England. It has a population of 107,123. In 1931 the parish had a population of 1159. It lies east of Central London, south of the city of Chelmsford and ...

and

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north ...

. It is connected to the Transport for London bus network by 370 to

Romford Romford is a large town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Historically, Romfo ...

and

372 __NOTOC__ Year 372 (Roman numerals, CCCLXXII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Modestus and Arintheus (or, less frequent ...

to Hornchurch with other operators such as Ensignbus to the surrounding Thurrock area and First Essex's route 100 to

and

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of Londo ...

. Route X80 operated by Ensignbus provides a link to Bluewater across the Dartford Crossing.

New developments

To ensure the centre maintains its competition with the newer (and what is perceived by some as more 'upmarket')

Bluewater shopping centre Bluewater Shopping Centre (commonly referred to as Bluewater) is an out-of-town shopping centre in Stone (postally Greenhithe), Kent, England, outside the M25 motorway, east south east of London's centre. Opened on 16 March 1999 in a former cha ...

, which lies just over the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

in Greenhithe, Lakeside had a £30 million refurbishment in 2004. This included new Italian porcelain flooring, new lighting, a new ceiling and new glass roofs which allow much more natural light into the shopping centre. There are now also new, faster lifts, and four more escalators, along with automatic entrance doors. The refurbishment has also encouraged refitting of many shops so that they complement the new surroundings. In September 2005,

Next Next may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Next'' (1990 film), an animated short about William Shakespeare * ''Next'' (2007 film), a sci-fi film starring Nicolas Cage * '' Next: A Primer on Urban Painting'', a 2005 documentary film Lit ...

opened an . extension to its store. The Lakeside Pavilion, a market area adjoining the main shopping centre via a covered bridge, was closed in 2006 for refurbishment, re-opening in June 2007 as 'The Boardwalk'. The Boardwalk provides an additional . of retail space for eleven new restaurants along with more retail and leisure space, as well as a 10-metre boardwalk, offering external seating overlooking Alexandra Lake. The Old Orleans bar and restaurant, a converted paddle steamer, was also refurbished and re-opened on the same day, with new features including a rooftop bar. Later a Miller & Carter restaurant, this partially sank on 23 December 2022. Vue cinema formed part of the old Lakeside Pavilion, with a seven screen cinema. This closed on 11 January 2007 to be refurbished, and was re-opened on 15 June 2007; the refurbishment resulted in nine state-of-the-art screens with

stadium seating Stadium seating or theater seating is a characteristic seating arrangement that is most commonly associated with performing-arts venues, and derives its name from stadiums, which typically use this arrangement. Description In stadium seating, ...

. 'Gold Class', a premium screen that housed luxury seating, has since been abandoned in favour of VIP seating sections in every screen. The 'Evolution Screen', with a combination of giant bean bag chairs amongst VIP seating, was the first of its kind in the UK.

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancest ...

opened its tenth UK store at Lakeside Shopping Centre.

, one of the centre's four anchor stores, applied for planning permission in July 2008 to allow construction of a third storey extension to their store, in addition to an extensive refurbishment of the store layout and customer facilities. The application was approved at the end of October 2008 although no construction has taken place as of July 2011. Superdry brands opened its largest-ever store at the centre in July 2010, in the unit previously occupied by

Woolworths Woolworth, Woolworth's, or Woolworths may refer to: Businesses * F. W. Woolworth Company, the original US-based chain of "five and dime" (5¢ and 10¢) stores * Woolworths Group (United Kingdom), former operator of the Woolworths chain of shop ...

Ed's Easy Diner Ed's Easy Diner is a casual restaurant chain based in the United Kingdom selling 1950s American diner style items. History The first Ed's Easy Diner was opened by Barry Margolis in London's Soho in 1987. In 2008, there were just three diners, a ...

also opened their fifth restaurant in the centre's food court in July 2010.

Taco Bell Taco Bell is an American-based chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired foods, includi ...

re-entered the UK market in June 2010 with the opening of its first stores at intu Lakeside. Car dealers at Lakeside are

SEAT A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but also headquarters in a wider sense. Types of seat The following are examples of different kinds of seat: * Armchair, a chair ...

and

Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 ...

. On 8 December 2012, US fashion giant

Forever 21 Forever 21 is a multinational fast fashion retailer headquartered in Los Angeles, California, United States. Originally founded as the store Fashion 21 in Highland Park, Los Angeles in 1984,Forever 21History & Facts, n.d. Retrieved 27 April 2014 ...

opened a flagship store at intu Lakeside, in a three-floor unit. In July 2016 this store closed down, with H&M moving in to the store in December 2016. Intu Lakeside was granted permission in 2012 to extend to include 30-40 new stores, a new footbridge across the Alexandra Lake to the Lakeside Retail Park, a new leisure area, a new 80 bed Travelodge hotel overlooking the river and a brand new transport hub where the current railway station bridge is to allow easier interchange. The new 225,000 sq ft leisure area was completed in early 2019 and will include a

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...

-branded entertainment centre.

Docusoap

In 1998, ''Lakesiders'' was a BBC docusoap narrated by

Pauline Quirke Pauline Perpetua Sheen ( Quirke; born 8 July 1959) is an English actress who has played Sharon Theodopolopodous in the long-running comedy series '' Birds of a Feather'' (1988–1999, 2014–2017). For this role, she won the 1990 British Comed ...

following the activities of management including centre manager Richard Belt, shopkeepers and staff of the shopping centre. The fractious working relationship between Essex FM's breakfast show DJ Martin Day and his boss Paul Chantler also featured. The theme music was by Simon May. A new series, ''Return to Lakesiders'', was filmed by the BBC in 2007 and was broadcast on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream a ...

18–22 August 2008.

References

External links

{{Shopping centres in the East of England Buildings and structures in Thurrock Retail parks in the United Kingdom Shopping centres in Essex Shopping malls established in 1990 1990 establishments in England