Cabot Circus opening is 'quantum leap' for Bristol
Ten years ago the council knew it wanted a triangle of major areas of change to transform Bristol.
It included redevelopment at Harbourside, the new business area at Temple Quay – and expansion at Bristol’s tired-looking Broadmead shopping centre.
Bob de Barr, of developers Land Securities – and project director of the Bristol Alliance after it was set up to take on the huge scheme in 2000 – remembers sitting down with two architects for a brainstorming session at the Bristol Marriott Hotel.
And that’s how it started – Mr de Barr, two architects and a piece of paper.
Ten years on – and, no doubt, several thousand sheets of paper later – the end result is set to be a match of Brimingham’s new Bullring or any other city centre in Britain.
The well-travelled Mr de Barr said: “It’s right up there with anything I’ve seen in the world.”
Built in five different blocks, designed by five different architects, Cabot Circus is unique.
Director Richard Belt, who has run other major shopping centres in the past – including Lakeside, in Essex, and the Glades, at Bromley, in south London – said: “Cabot Circus really is different.
“For a start it doesn’t have doors on. So many do and they look inward. They don’t think what’s happening in the rest of their city centre.
“The last thing we wanted was what happens in many cities: a new little jewel is surrounded by areas that need serious attention.”
Bristol is different. For a start, one of the city’s historic gems, Quakers Friars, has been almost rediscovered and turned into what Ms Holland calls the project’s “jewel in the crown”.
But parts of Broadmead next to the new shopping centre have also been given a facelift so that the “join” is less visible.
And, as Ms Holland told the Evening Post, this could be just the start.
Cabot Circus should also inspire other transformation in the city centre over the new few years – for instance, in the area around High Street and Wine Street.
So will it work? Amid the palpable excitement among retailers and the public at the opening of Cabot Circus, Mr de Barr, Mr Belt and Ms Holland fielded inevitable media questions about the credit crunch.
“Of course, we didn’t plan for it,” said Mr de Barr.
“But the current economic climate hasn’t knocked us off our course. That’s fixed.
“Here’s a fact that speaks for itself: 75 retailers have come to Bristol for the first time to be part of Cabot Circus.”
Mr Belt said it would be naive to say the credit crunch – the downturn which is currently affecting everyone’s pocket – would have no effect.
“But the demand for space here has been huge,” he said.
And these retailers were putting on their best “offer” here, he said, meaning products and presentation.
“With all that we will be putting Bristol back as a regional shopping destination.”
The new Harvey Nichols store alone would be drawing people in from a huge area, said Mr de Barr.
“They know they will be bringing people in from as far away as Truro and Haverfordwest.”
So how is Cabot Circus going to buck the current downturn in the market?
“We’ll be bringing in substantially more people and retail sales will grow,” said Mr Belt.
The confidence comes partly from the 18-month period of consultation with the public and many other organisations earlier in the decade.
This revealed a big gap in the market – the middle classes.
For years, it emerged, the better-off had been turning their backs on Bristol’s apparently down-at-heel city centre.
With Harvey Nicks leading a stream of upmarket traders into the new project, Cabot Circus believes it has the right recipe for future triumph.
“We’ve brought in the quality and we’ve strengthened the middle market, with much bigger stores for people like Next and Topshop,” said Mr de Barr.
Mr Belt and the new team will be keeping a constant eye on how things are going, too, with research and feedback, and consultation through focus groups acting as “a health monitor”.
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