White Rose Centre
Encyclopedia
The White Rose Centre is a shopping centre in the Churwell
area of the City of Leeds
, West Yorkshire
, England
. It spans two floors and is linked to the M621 motorway
. It takes its name from the White Rose of York
, the traditional symbol of Yorkshire
. The Upper Level houses the Centre's 'Upper Circle' food court. There are 4,800 free car parking spaces, security arrangements and on-site Police
officers. Although the centre is considerably smaller than other out-of-town shopping centres (eg. Trafford Centre
), it remains popular and has big international retailers such as Zara and H&M
.
The centre opened on 25 March 1997 and currently accommodates major tenants including Sainsbury's, Debenhams
, Marks and Spencer, Next
, W H Smith
, Bhs
, Primark
, Zara
, H&M
, Barratts
as well as some 100 other stores. The South region of the Centre was re-developed in 2005 taking back space from downsizing the Sainsbury's store allowing for extra units to be added.
The Centre is managed and mainly owned by Land Securities, however Evans of Leeds are also a partner. The Centre has also won many awards over the years, these include a British Council of Shopping Centre's (BCSC) Golds Award, BCSC Purple apple, and Green apple awards. Peter Cook won Out-of-Town Centre Manager of the Year award and the Centre also has countless Leeds/Yorkshire in Bloom Awards under its belt.
The Upper Circle is the centre's food court. This takes up most of the upper floor of the central atrium. The Upper Circle contains a McDonald's
, a KFC
, a Subway
, Spud-u-like, Pizza Hut Express, Bagel Nash
, Juice, BB's Coffee and Muffin and a Graveley's Fish & Chips. Adjoining this is a Nando's
restaurant. Prior to the centre going completely no-smoking, the food court had both smoking and non-smoking areas.
) were running a competition entitled '10 seconds to win 10K'. The prize was won by a local resident who correctly guessed that there was exactly £10,793.52 secreted in a ball on display in the centre. The winning guess was based on the date of the anniversary in reverse.
sessions for older people who are also able to participate in Mall walking
within the sheltered environment of the centre. It also contains the White Rose Learning Centre run in conjunction with Education Leeds and Leeds City College. This provides dance classes and other educational activities for children at risk of exclusion from school in an informal environment.
One common criticism of the shopping centre is the width of the malls in the centre, on the whole they are much narrower than at comparative centres such as Meadowhall, The Metro Centre and The Trafford Centre. One possible reason for this is that the developers underestimated the centre's popularity. Another criticism is the lack of a railway station, despite the centre backing directly onto a railway line.
Churwell
Churwell is a small village in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough, West Yorkshire, England, between Leeds city centre and Morley. It is southwest of Leeds city centre and away from the Leeds United Elland Road Football Ground....
area of the City of Leeds
City of Leeds
The City of Leeds is a local government district of West Yorkshire, England, governed by Leeds City Council, with the status of a city and metropolitan borough. The metropolitan district includes Leeds and the towns of Farsley, Garforth, Guiseley, Horsforth, Morley, Otley, Pudsey, Rothwell,...
, West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It spans two floors and is linked to the M621 motorway
M621 motorway
The M621 motorway is a short loop of motorway in England that takes traffic into central Leeds between the M1 and M62 motorways. It is the second longest motorway in the United Kingdom to carry a three digit number although it carries more junctions than any other three digit motorway within the...
. It takes its name from the White Rose of York
White Rose of York
The White Rose of York , a white heraldic rose, is the symbol of the House of York and has since been adopted as a symbol of Yorkshire as a whole.-History:...
, the traditional symbol of Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
. The Upper Level houses the Centre's 'Upper Circle' food court. There are 4,800 free car parking spaces, security arrangements and on-site Police
West Yorkshire Police
West Yorkshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing West Yorkshire in England. It is the fourth largest force in England and Wales by number of officers, with 5671 officers....
officers. Although the centre is considerably smaller than other out-of-town shopping centres (eg. Trafford Centre
Trafford Centre
The Trafford Centre is a large indoor shopping centre and leisure complex situated in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford in Greater Manchester, close to the Trafford Park industrial estate and approximately 5 miles from Manchester city centre. It is the highest valued shopping centre in the...
), it remains popular and has big international retailers such as Zara and H&M
H&M
H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB is a Swedish retail-clothing company, known for its fast-fashion clothing offerings for women, men, teenagers and children....
.
The centre opened on 25 March 1997 and currently accommodates major tenants including Sainsbury's, Debenhams
Debenhams
Debenhams plc is a British retailer operating under a department store format in the UK, Ireland and Denmark, and franchise stores in other countries. The Company was founded in the eighteenth century as a single store in London and has now grown to around 160 shops...
, Marks and Spencer, Next
Next (retailer)
Next plc is a British retailer marketing clothing, footwear, accessories and home products with its headquarters in Enderby, Leicestershire, England. The company has over 550 stores throughout the UK and the Republic of Ireland, and 50 franchise branches in Europe, Asia and the Middle East...
, W H Smith
W H Smith
WHSmith plc is a British retailer, headquartered in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. It is best known for its chain of high street, railway station, airport, hospital and motorway service station shops selling books, stationery, magazines, newspapers, and entertainment products...
, Bhs
Bhs
BHS Limited is a British department store chain with branches mainly located in high street locations, primarily selling clothing and household items such as bedlinen, cutlery, crockery and lighting. The company has 187 stores throughout the United Kingdom...
, Primark
Primark
Primark is a clothing retailer, operating over 223 stores in Ireland , the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Portugal and Belgium...
, Zara
Zara (clothing)
Zara is a Spanish clothing and accessories retailer based in Arteixo, Galicia, and founded in 1975 by Amancio Ortega and Rosalía Mera. It is the flagship chain store of the Inditex group; the fashion group also owns brands such as Massimo Dutti, Pull and Bear, Oysho, Uterqüe, Stradivarius and...
, H&M
H&M
H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB is a Swedish retail-clothing company, known for its fast-fashion clothing offerings for women, men, teenagers and children....
, Barratts
Barratts
Barratts Priceless Ltd incorporates two long established high street brands in Barratts Shoes and Priceless Shoes in 2010. The Barratts shoes brand trades from 100 UK and Éire Stores and is committed to providing affordable fashion footwear...
as well as some 100 other stores. The South region of the Centre was re-developed in 2005 taking back space from downsizing the Sainsbury's store allowing for extra units to be added.
The Centre is managed and mainly owned by Land Securities, however Evans of Leeds are also a partner. The Centre has also won many awards over the years, these include a British Council of Shopping Centre's (BCSC) Golds Award, BCSC Purple apple, and Green apple awards. Peter Cook won Out-of-Town Centre Manager of the Year award and the Centre also has countless Leeds/Yorkshire in Bloom Awards under its belt.
Construction
The site comprises 76 acres (307,561.4 m²) of land and was formerly the home of Morley Sewage works. Before building work could begin on-site in 1995, enabling works were carried out. This included removing the existing sewage works, sealing any disused mine shafts, removing contaminated soil and profiling the sloping site. This exercise required the movement of 750,000 cubic metres of soil to smooth out a 30 metre fall across the site and create a series of level terraces for the building and car parks. Work commenced on the 87-week project on 10 July 1995 and by September the first steelwork was visible. 600 semi-mature, 7 metre high trees were pre-purchased from Germany and planted in the car park areas to provide effective landscaping. In total, 5,000 trees and shrubs have been planted around the car parks and perimeter roads to further enrich the external design.The Upper Circle
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
, a KFC
KFC
KFC, founded and also known as Kentucky Fried Chicken, is a chain of fast food restaurants based in Louisville, Kentucky, in the United States. KFC has been a brand and operating segment, termed a concept of Yum! Brands since 1997 when that company was spun off from PepsiCo as Tricon Global...
, a Subway
Subway (restaurant)
Subway is an American restaurant franchise that primarily sells submarine sandwiches and salads. It is owned and operated by Doctor's Associates, Inc. . Subway is one of the fastest growing franchises in the world with 35,519 restaurants in 98 countries and territories as of October 25th, 2011...
, Spud-u-like, Pizza Hut Express, Bagel Nash
Bagel Nash
Bagel Nash is a British chain of bagel fast food restaurants. It was founded in 1987 by Karen and Uri Mizrahi in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Initially they bought bagels from a local Jewish baker but went on to produce their own...
, Juice, BB's Coffee and Muffin and a Graveley's Fish & Chips. Adjoining this is a Nando's
Nando's
Nando's is a casual dining restaurant group originating from South Africa with a Portuguese/Mozambican theme. Founded in 1987, Nando's operates in thirty countries on five continents....
restaurant. Prior to the centre going completely no-smoking, the food court had both smoking and non-smoking areas.
Tenth Anniversary competition
On the tenth anniversary of the centre opening, 25 March 2007, the White Rose Centre (in conjunction with Real RadioReal Radio (Yorkshire)
Real Radio Yorkshire is an independent local radio station that broadcasts across South and West Yorkshire. It is the third regional radio station within the Real Radio brand...
) were running a competition entitled '10 seconds to win 10K'. The prize was won by a local resident who correctly guessed that there was exactly £10,793.52 secreted in a ball on display in the centre. The winning guess was based on the date of the anniversary in reverse.
Re-branding
To coincide with its tenth year of trading the White Rose Centre modernised its image by undertaking a re-branding exercise. This involved a complete re-design of the centre's logo, advertising, signage and staff uniforms. The new branding and strategic marketing campaign that followed won the centre a coveted BCSC Purple Apple award.Role in community
The White Rose is involved in a number of social welfare activities in the local area. It organises regular Tea DanceTea dance
A tea dance, or thé dansant is a summer or autumn afternoon or early-evening dance from four to seven, sometimes preceded in the English countryside by a garden party. The function evolved from the concept of the afternoon tea, and J. Pettigrew traces its origin to the French colonization of Morocco...
sessions for older people who are also able to participate in Mall walking
Mall walking
Mall walking is a form of exercise in which people walk or jog through the usually long corridors of shopping malls. Many malls open early so that people may mall walk, however stores and other such facilities generally do not open at this time...
within the sheltered environment of the centre. It also contains the White Rose Learning Centre run in conjunction with Education Leeds and Leeds City College. This provides dance classes and other educational activities for children at risk of exclusion from school in an informal environment.
Criticisms of the centre