Broadway, Bradford
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The Broadway is a shopping and leisure complex in the centre of
Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...
,
West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...
, England, which opened on 5 November 2015. It was built and was operated, in its first year, by the
Westfield Corporation Westfield Corporation was an Australian Commercial property, commercial real estate company and operator of Shopping mall, shopping centres. It was founded with the Corporate spin-off, spin-off of the Westfield Group in 2014, where assets in ...
but is owned by New River. It is currently operated by Munroe K Asset Management Ltd. Buildings were demolished and roads rerouted to make way for the development in 2004; but because of continued failure to secure buy-in from enough businesses, construction did not begin in earnest until January 2014: for most of the intervening years, the site had little apart from a deep excavation, though from 2010 the area round the edge of the site was laid out as an urban park. The "hole in the ground" was very unpopular in Bradford, and at one point the site was occupied by protestors.


History

In 1998 the Forster Square Development Partnership was established between Magellan Properties, Caddick Developments and the
City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council is the local authority of the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. Bradford has had an elected council since 1847, which has been reformed on several occasions. Since 1974 it has been a metr ...
. They planned a 51,096 m² (570,000 sq ft) shopping centre containing
Primark Primark Limited (; trading as Penneys in Ireland) is an Irish multinational fashion retailer with headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, with outlets across Europe and in the United States. The original ''Penneys'' brand is not used outside of Irel ...
,
Next NeXT, Inc. (later NeXT Computer, Inc. and NeXT Software, Inc.) was an American technology company headquartered in Redwood City, California that specialized in computer workstations for higher education and business markets, and later develope ...
, River Island, and over 90 shops and other leisure facilities. (BHS had a store in Broadway, but it demolished as part of the demolition of the previous development on the site and C&A also had a store on the old Broadway but closed all UK stores in 2001 and thus cancelled plans to be part of this redevelopment). The partnership sold it to Stannifer which was bought out by the
Westfield Group Westfield Group was an Australian shopping centre company that existed from 1960 to 2014, when it split into two independent companies: Scentre Group, which owns and operates the Australian and New Zealand Westfield shopping centre portfolio; ...
in December 2004. Planning permission for the development was approved on 10 September 2003, with the claim that 3,000 new jobs could be created. Demolition on the Forster Square site started on 18 March 2004 and by mid-2006 the site was empty apart from a large pile of rubble. It was originally hoped that the complex would be open by late 2007 (with construction commencing in early 2006), but with a lack of anchor tenants and with many workmen still working on Westfield Derby, the start date for construction was pushed back. The delays led to
Bradford Council City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council is the Local government in England, local authority of the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. Bradford has had an elected council since 1847, which has been reformed on several occasions. ...
threatening to take back control of the site from Westfield, if progress was not made. By 2006 demolition work had freed for development a site encompassed by Hall Ings, Well Street, the new Lower Kirkgate and Charles Street. In April 2010, after several years in which no construction had taken place, the project was mothballed and work began on creating a temporary park on part of the site. The site was subsequently occupied by protesters unhappy about the lack of development. In January 2014, the park was demolished, and work resumed on the construction. The centre was opened at 10 am on 5 November 2015, by
Alexandra Burke Alexandra Imelda Cecelia Ewen Burke (born 25 August 1988) is an English singer, songwriter and actress. She won the fifth series of the talent television show ''The X Factor'' in 2008. Following the show, she was signed to Syco Music and releas ...
at the Forster Square entrance, and simultaneously at other entrances by representatives from
Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...
and the
Bradford Burns Unit The Bradford Burns Unit is a burns research facility set up at University of Bradford following the Bradford fire disaster on 11 May 1985. The fire disaster at Valley Parade killed 56 people and injured more than 250. Professor David Sharpe foun ...
, and by the world's longest-married couple Karam and Kartari Chand. In 2021
Debenhams Debenhams plc was a British department store chain that operated in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark, as well as franchised locations across Europe and the Asia Pacific. The company was founded in 1778 as a single store in London and gr ...
closed following the firm's liquidation. In 2024
Marks and Spencer Marks and Spencer plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks & Sparks or simply Marks) is a major British multinational retailer based in London, England, that specialises in selling clothing, beauty products, home produc ...
announced they intended to withdraw from the centre.


Temporary urban park

In February 2010, almost 6 years after the start of demolition,
Bradford Council City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council is the Local government in England, local authority of the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. Bradford has had an elected council since 1847, which has been reformed on several occasions. ...
announced a plan to convert part of the construction site into a temporary park. The park would include new footpaths, seating, grassed areas, urban allotments and a performance area The funding for the park scheme was provided partly by central government, as part of a fund to help local councils invest after recession,
Yorkshire Forward Yorkshire Forward was the regional development agency (RDA) for the Yorkshire and the Humber region of the United Kingdom. It supported the development of business in the region by encouraging public and private investment in education, skills, ...
, and the developers Westfield. Work began on the park in April 2010. The park was a temporary measure; and was closed on 6 January 2014 as construction of the development was about to begin.


Timeline

* 20 November 2007 – Westfield installed staff cabins and began preparatory work prior to beginning construction. * Also in November 2007, Westfield applied to change the planning permission to include a hotel. * August 2008 – No formal start date for construction yet announced, as Westfield are waiting for more 'anchor tenants' to sign up for shop space; currently half of the total shop space has been let. The developers have pledged to start work 'as soon as possible' and preparatory work on the site was due to be completed by mid-August 2008. * January 2009 – site consists of excavated foundations but nobody is working on site and all staff entrances chained up. * March 2009 – announced that work on the site is 'on hold' until 2010 due to the
recession In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction that occurs when there is a period of broad decline in economic activity. Recessions generally occur when there is a widespread drop in spending (an adverse demand shock). This may be tr ...
. * 20 May 2009 – Bradford West Member of Parliament
Marsha Singh Marsha Singh (11 October 1954 – 17 July 2012) was a British Labour Party politician, and the member of parliament (MP) for Bradford West from 1997 to 2012. Singh stood down due to ill health. Singh had a degree in Languages, Politics and Ec ...
raised the lack of progress on the site during
Prime Minister's Questions Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs, officially known as Questions to the Prime Minister, while colloquially known as Prime Minister's Question Time) is a constitutional convention (political custom), constitutional convention in the United Kingd ...
in the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...
.
Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. Previously, he was Chancellor of the Ex ...
, the
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
, stated that he would be willing to hold a meeting with Westfield to discuss the issue * February 2010 – Bradford Council announced plan to convert part of the site into a temporary park * April 2010 – Work started on the temporary park * June 2011 – Westfield to submit new revised plans for a smaller centre containing 77 shops. * October 2011 – Bradford Council pass revised planning application. * July 2013 - Announcement made. Restarting construction in the second half of 2013 * January 2014 – The temporary garden closed to allow workers to start the project. * May 2015: Westfield 75% of construction completed * 5 November 2015 – Final touches and the Broadway Bradford opened its doors to the city centre with 73 shops to shop and explore


Retailers

When opened, the shopping centre included Marks and Spencer and Debenhams as its anchor retailers. HMV, Next and H&M were also tenants at the opening of the cinema. Most retailers had relocated from more traditional parts of the city centre such as the Kirkgate Centre or Darley Street. There is also The Light Cinema, a food court and a multi-storey car park.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Broadway, Bradford, The Buildings and structures in Bradford
Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...
Shopping centres in West Yorkshire