"Countdown" begins to Oxford Street’s £2.9bn transformation

The New West End Company, the representative of Oxford Street, Bond Street and Regent Street businesses, has announced the 1,000-day countdown to when a total of £2.9 billion will be invested within a one-mile radius of Oxford Street by 2022.

The countdown comes after a challenging 10 years where the beacon of British retail has faced “intense scrutiny.”

The decade long stop-start campaign for pedestrianisation on Oxford Street, as well as Crossrail’s deferred opening, has impacted the streets reputation. But, in the biggest transformation the district has seen in over 50 years, the £2.9bn investment is set to re-affirm Oxford Street as a global shopping and leisure destination for the 21st century.

After years of uncertainty and delays, the arrival of Crossrail and the Elizabeth Line in 2021 will make Oxford Street the best-connected shopping district in the world with an ‘International Centre’ classification.

An additional 60 million visits are expected annually and the surge in shoppers is expected to boost spending to £13.2bn across the West End by 2022, a 40% increase in 2019 turnover.

Jace Tyrrell, chief executive of New West End Company, commented: “London’s West End is not beyond the wider malaise of the retail sector. However, the £2.9 billion investment from public and private sectors will catalyse the birth of a new West End. Additionally, the new deal will see the West End secure ‘International Centre’ status, which will lead to a generational shift in how Oxford Street is used.”

Tyrell believes customers will be “spoilt” as the rise of brand temples will offer more than just products but experience and reasons to visit. New green pedestrian spaces will emerge, and the super speed Crossrail will connect Heathrow Airport to the West End in less than 30 minutes. A vibrant Oxford Street will allow visitors to experience the very best retail, leisure and hospitality.

“We are truly witnessing a transformative moment for the most renowned shopping destination in the world,” added Tyrrell.

In the fast-changing retail environment, the sector is going through a shift in how consumers spend, with expectations for experiential retail at their height. With every major retailer and 218 international brands, the West End is “not immune to these challenges.”

Property owners across the district are responding to these changes in new and exciting ways with £1 billion being invested in new developments and refurbishments on Oxford Street alone.

Over the last 12 months, Oxford Street has welcomed the likes of designer menswear store Flannels and Microsoft, both with their own experiential take on luxury shopping, as well as Market Hall, the first all food concept on Oxford Street and the UK’s largest food hall.

Over the coming months, the planned mixed-use developments like Derwent London’s Soho Place, with the first new theatre in the West End for 50 years in Oxford Street East, alongside Selfridges’ planned permanent cinema in Oxford Street West, ensures the street will be “bookended by experience.”