Rita Ora performed a medley of her hit songs at the star-studded birthday celebration
Happy 10th birthday Westfield London!
Europe’s biggest shopping centre marked its 10-year anniversary on Tuesday 30 October with a star-studded birthday celebration. It included performances from British music sensations Rita Ora, Liam Payne and Rudimental.
TV star James Corden, flew in from Hollywood to lead the celebrations on stage in Westfield Square alongside none other than Miss Piggy…yes, Miss Piggy, the Muppet’s leading lady.
See more Westfield party photos on our Flickr photo gallery
But there are more reasons to celebrate than just the entertainment and shopping. In the past 10 years Westfield London has provided a host of new jobs, new transport improvements and new genuinely affordable homes for local residents.
Hammersmith & Fulham Council has worked alongside Westfield to create 12,000 permanent jobs since the shopping centre opened, with thousands of residents securing new jobs and careers.
“Westfield has brought jobs, genuinely affordable homes and economic vitality," said Cllr Stephen Cowan, the Leader of H&F Council.
“More recently, it's become central to our industrial strategy which seeks to build H&F into a global leader in the bio-tech, digital and arts sectors, and bring the best possible start-up and career opportunities for all our residents.”
The shopping centre’s new French owners – Unibail Rodamco Westfield – proudly demonstrate that H&F is truly at the Heart of Europe in London. The borough is one of the capital’s most European-friendly areas and H&F Council has pledged to do everything possible to support EU citizens and protect local jobs and careers.
Best new neighbourhood in London
In the past decade, Westfield London has invested £2.3billion into White City. The original 43-acre Westfield site cost £1.7billion to build and consisted of 265 shops and 50 restaurants when it first opened on 30 October 2008.
Hammersmith & Fulham Council continues to work hard to ensure residents benefit from all the new jobs, homes and economic growth.
More than 8,000 jobs are now being delivered in the new £600 million expansion with 600 job posts already filled at the new £33 million John Lewis store.
In partnership with Westfield, the council has also secured 89 new genuinely affordable homes for residents, who will shortly be moving into the new development, which is situated on the doorstep of the shopping centre.
It’s one of the latest affordable house building schemes in H&F Council’s drive to ensure local people, rather than overseas property investors, benefit from local growth.
Local improvements
More than 260million people have visited Westfield shopping centre since it opened in 2008, generating £9billion in sales.
This was helped by the opening of the new Westfield expansion in March. However, the council wanted to make sure local people benefited from this local development and negotiated a number of improvements for White City ahead of the works, at no cost to residents.
It included £7million going towards:
- £3.9million improvement to Shepherds Bush Overground station
- £600,000 to maximise job opportunities through training and apprenticeships
- 578 cycle parking spaces
- Increased bus capacity
- Improved pedestrian zones
- Road enhancements.
H&F Council aims to deliver significant growth for residents, new businesses, private and social housing, jobs and infrastructure in White City as outlined in the council’s Industrial Strategy.
More jobs in H&F
Ninety new shops were added during the Westfield expansion alongside 8,000 new permanent jobs being created.
H&F Council alongside Westfield, Job Centre Plus and local colleges continue to work with the local community to inform and prepare them for the jobs on offer which include free courses launched in collaboration with West London College and City of Westminster College.
Designed to help people be job-ready, they allow local residents to gain an accredited retail, hospitality or catering qualification in just two weeks.
For more information on the free training and the latest vacancies, residents can contact H&F Works.
Read all the latest business news in H&F.
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