John Lewis hires Mace to fit its Victoria Gate store in Leeds
The newly developed Victoria Gate in Leeds is expected to open later this year, creating 1,000 jobs and a lasting architectural icon. The anchor tenant of the development, John Lewis, has hired Mace to fit the interior of its new store. The store is expected to open its door in Autumn this year.
John Lewis is an upmarket department store chain in the UK. The chain is owned by the John Lewis Partnership, with the first store opened in 1864 in Oxford Street, London. The John Lewis Partnership operates from more than 46 John Lewis stores and has more than 88,700 partners across all of its businesses.
The Victoria Gate is a £165 million retail development in Leeds, England, which is planned to open in late 2016. The building has a striking exterior façade which, it is hoped, will grow to become a future architectural classic for the city. The development involves a range of retail spaces – allowing dozens of organisations to open up a presence in the region – and multi-storey car park for up to 800 cars. The development and completed supercentre will create 1,000 retail and hospitality jobs in the region.
As part of the wider development is the new 53,400m2 Victoria Estate, which encompasses the adjacent Victoria Quarter, John Lewis secured the position of anchor tenant of the development. In its bid to create a cutting-edge shopping experience, the retailer has hired Mace to developed the interior development of its new store. The engineering and design consulting firm will deliver the fit out to the new store, for which work has already started. The store is expected to open in the autumn of this year.
Neil Hennessy, Regional Director at Mace, says: “This is Mace’s first project for John Lewis and I’m delighted that we’ve won this appointment to work with such a prestigious retailer. Mace has a strong track record of delivery in the retail sector and we will be drawing on this expertise to deliver an outstanding store for the city’s new, vibrant retail quarter.”
Tony Jacob, Head of Construction at John Lewis, says: "John Lewis Leeds is a really exciting project for us. It will be our third shop in Yorkshire.”
