A celebration of Sceptre winners
Published: 30 September, 2008
== Shopping Centre Developer of the Year: Westfield ==
Richard Chadwick from Europa (right) presented the SCEPTRE Award for Shopping Centre Developer of the Year to Denis Carruthers and Martina Sloan of Westfield.
Westfield and Hermes opened 2007's largest shopping centre development, Westfield Derby, in October 2007. The £340m scheme has transformed the city centre with two new anchor stores - Marks & Spencer and Debenhams - and more than 150 other stores.
The project doubled the size of the former Eagle Centre, offering retailers large well-configured units with double-height shopfronts, previously unavailable in the city. As a result Westfield was 100 per cent let and trading on opening day.
Another key feature of Westfield Derby is its reinvention of the food court. The Eat Gallery offers shoppers a wide selection of freshly-prepared meals from some of the UK's leading catering operators.
In 2008 Westfield is even more ambitious, with the 1 million-sq ft Westfield London due to open this autumn. And on the other side of the capital work is beginning on Stratford City, a 2 million-sq ft retail and leisure destination that will form the gateway to the 2012 Olympic Park. With unrivalled public transport links, the two schemes promise to transform the retail landscape in London.
== Centre Manager of the Year - up to 200,000 sq ft: Paul Haynes ==
Alpine Selection's chairman Ian Flanagan OBE (right) presented the SCEPTRE Award for Centre Manager of the Year at a centre up to 200,000 sq ft to Paul Haynes from Regent Court in Leamington Spa.
How many shopping centre managers paint their own site, manufacture their own advertising trailer, water their own plants, shoot their own photography, compact their own cardboard and act as receptionist and concierge, all because of budget constraints?
For Paul Haynes, establishing the 50,000-sq ft Regent Court has been the ultimate test in multi-tasking, because the team consists of just himself as general manager, one contract security officer and one part-time cleaner.
Two years ago, Regent Court was nothing more than a new residential street with 125 mainly unsold apartments located above the empty retail units. At that point only three shops had been let. Yet today the retail side is 92 per cent let and 132 flats have been sold, leaving just four retail voids and three unsold flats.
Despite the severe service charge restrictions, Paul has even managed to reduce next year's service charge by 2.6 per cent. He achieved this by renegotiating the security, cleaning and Christmas decoration contracts for Regent Court.
