'Non-Essential' Shops in Westfield Set To Reopen
Safe environment promised as second stage of easing of lockdown begins
Extra health safety measures in place at Westfield
This Monday 12 April shops across the Westfield Shopping Centre in Shepherd’s Bush have been able to reopen for the first time in months.
The second stage of the four-step roadmap for lifting lockdown means that non-essential shops can now start to operate again.
The management of the Westfield centre says it has robust plans in place that fully integrate all health and safety measures as outlined in the Safer Public Places document published by the Government.
To promote mandatory face coverings, Westfield is launching a Masks for Good campaign to encourage mask wearing for the duration of each visit. Masks for Good kiosks will enable visitors to recycle their single use masks and purchase a fully biodegradable, high-quality reusable mask with all proceeds going to the Jack Tizard School. The recycled masks will be turned into new items like outdoor furniture, watering cans, storage containers and more. The Masks for Good creative will appear on screens around the centre.
Other preparations for reopening both retail centres fully include crowd control technology and measures to monitor the number of visitors in and out of the centres. There are also socially distanced queuing systems, manned by trained Westfield UK staff members, with clear floor spacing signage.
Westfield has also introduced cashless and ticketless parking in partnership with HUB Parking Technology. It believes that by making car parks cashless and ticketless, this will improve levels of hygiene and remove high-footfall touchpoints to keep shoppers safe as they return to centres.
Scott Parsons, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield’s Chief Operating Officer, UK said, “We look forward to safely welcoming our shoppers, retailers, local communities, and employees back to our centres from the 12th of April. Managing the health and safety of our visitors remains our priority, and the sheer scale of our centres puts us in a unique position to go above and beyond government guidelines to give our visitors a and enjoyable experience.
“"e remain focused on innovating our centres to create extraordinary places and experiences that influence how people live, work, shop, connect and are entertained. Our recent ‘How We Shop: What’s Changed’ report found that consumers are craving physical experiences now more than ever before with over 52% of consumers expressing that they now crave health services or experiences in a post-pandemic world.
"Although online shopping has certainly grown during lockdown, now people have the choice again, they will seek out real life experiences and return to stores and the brands they love."
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April 12, 2021