Westfield shopping centre

Westfield shopping centre in Shepherds Bush is noted for its size: with a retail floor area of 150,000m² the equivalent of about 30 football pitches. It is said to be London’s largest shopping centre (overtaking the Centrale in Croydon), the third largest shopping centre in the United Kingdom (behind MetroCentre and Bluewater), and the largest urban area indoor shopping centre in Europe (as distinct from out-of-town centres).

Cabot Circus, Bristol

Cabot Circus is a shopping mall in Bristol. It is located next to Broadmead, the main shopping district in Bristol city centre. The Cabot Circus development area contains shops, offices, a cinema, hotel and 250 apartments. It covers a total of 139,350 m2 floor space, of which 92,900 m2 is retail outlets and leisure facilities. It opened in September 2008, after a ten year planning and building project costing £500 million. The original chosen name ‘Merchants Quarter’ came under criticism due to its associations to the slave trade. The name of Cabot was chosen following a public vote taken in November 2007, and commemorates John Cabot, an Italian explorer who is closely associated with Bristol.

Bluewater Shopping Centre

Bluewater is a super-regional shopping centre, opened on 16 March 1999. It is located at Greenhithe in the borough of Dartford, near the M25 motorway in northwest Kent, England. It is owned by four major UK institutions. The centre is on a 240-acre plot in a former chalk quarry. It has a sales floor area of 154,000 min two levels, making it the second largest shopping centre in the UK after Gateshead’s MetroCentre. The floor plan is a triangular shape with 330 stores, including 3 anchors, 40 cafés and restaurants, and a 13-screen cinema. The centre employs 7,000 and serves over 27 million visitors a year.

A main rival is the Lakeside Shopping Centre and retail park some 9 miles away in West Thurrock, Essex.