The Very, Very New Oxford Street

Even before Covid-19 hit, Oxford Street, dubbed ‘the nation’s high street’ had become a bit of a tired, clichéd caricature of itself and was in dire need of a shake up, a reinvention, a renaissance.

Last month, Westminster City Council set out the Oxford Street District Framework, an incredibly ambitious £150m, 10-year project to ensure the post-pandemic success of one of the world’s most famous shopping streets.

Covid-19 stripped it of some of the country’s most famous high street names including Debenhams, BHS and Topshop. It reduced visitor numbers from 200m a year to almost none and the council said that the plans have been designed in part to boost footfall and support retailers and other businesses in the precinct in their post-lockdown recovery.

Council leader Rachael Robathan said, ‘The West End is the engine of the London economy and a huge employer which has been hard hit by the effects of COVID-19. We are confident that our bold plans will secure the District’s long-term success, running alongside our creative interim plans to boost the capital’s post pandemic recovery. We want to focus attention on this iconic centre of our city which has been increasingly overlooked and cement its status for the future as a key central London destination.’

The vision and roadmap is to put Oxford Street at the heart of ‘a world-leading, forward-facing urban district’, the greenest, smartest and most sustainable of its kind anywhere in the world.

If a revitalised Oxford Street with new shops, green spaces, pedestrianised areas and intelligent design wasn’t enough, they’ve thrown a huge mound into the mixer. What will be known as Marble Arch Hill is a temporary 25-metre installation which will offer, according to Jonathan Prynn in the Standard ‘sweeping views of Hyde Park, Mayfair and Marylebone.’ Around half the height of Nelson’s Column, around 200,000 people will get to the viewpoint at the top and the climb down will take them inside into a space that will be used for events and exhibitions.

Click here to view the council’s Interim Public Realm Improvement Scheme and here for their visionary 10-year roadmap.

If the Oxford Street District marketing department at Westminster City Council are to be believed, we can expect a global destination with successful businesses and an unrivalled visitor experience. Their website uses all the right buzzwords – sustainable, zero-carbon, innovative, smart, collaborative, flexible, inclusive, inspirational – but is it enough to lure nervous Londoners and millions of tourists back to a deserted West End?

Some Say Yes…

…Including Paul Williams and Jace Tyrrell.

Williams, Westminster Property Association Vice-Chair and Chief Executive of Derwent London said, ‘These plans will help support the recovery of the West End and put in place long term changes to provide a more welcoming environment. Creating such a stand-out attraction at Marble Arch this summer also sends a powerful and eye-catching signal for the start of the West End’s recovery. Combined with the success of the vaccine rollout and continued falls in Covid transmission, we hope in due course visitors will be able to enjoy the full range of experiences on offer across the West End.’

He went on to say, ‘If this vision is supported by a more flexible planning and licensing environment to encourage wider uses, enabling visitors to make the most of the area’s unique experiences, I am hopeful that in the coming years other global cities will look at what has been achieved here and will seek to emulate our success.’

Jace Tyrrell is the CEO of New West End Company and Vice-Chair of the Mayfair Neighbourhood Forum who believes that the £150m cash injection was ‘remarkable’ in the current economic climate.

‘There’s a lot of discussion on repurposing and looking at game planning, so we’re not worried about that confidence and capital investment on Oxford Street in the medium term.’

Some Say No…

…Including former Conservative MP, Mayor of London candidate and current Soho Estates chairman Steven Norris.

He’s concerned that these plans didn’t satisfactorily address the core challenges facing Oxford Street. He said they were ‘misguided’ and instead the council should focus their attention on the now-empty flagship stores of Topshop and Debenhams.

‘Marble Arch is not why people come to Oxford Street. The council would be better advised to look at doing something about the public realm on Oxford Street itself rather than building Alton Towers in the middle of a busy roundabout.’

Are the issues facing Oxford Street more complex than simply throwing money at the problem? One unnamed senior retail property advisor said that while the initiatives were welcome, he doesn’t think the council understands retail, fundamental for addressing what to do with one of the world’s most famous shopping streets.

He said ‘They [the council] are not commercial and that’s the problem. We’re talking about people who are struggling to get their heads around allowing a ground floor not to be retail, because there was a planning restriction that the first floor on Oxford Street had to be retail.’

Another unnamed (for very good reason) central London agent said, ‘Oxford Street is crying out for love, care and attention for the retailers and the shoppers and for the whole environment and if their solution is installing a f***ing hill down the bottom, what’s the purpose of that?’

Well, quite.

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