The Willow Brook Centre in Bradley Stoke has been shortlisted for two prestigious national industry awards.

The SCEPTRE Awards, run by Shopping Centre magazine, recognise the best practice and the best people in the shopping centre industry.

The Willow Brook Centre has reached the shortlist in both the Waste Management Category and the Centre Manager (Medium) category.

The SCEPTRE Awards put the spotlight on management teams, retailers and suppliers that demonstrate real excellence. The winners will be announced at an awards dinner at The Dorchester in London on 25th June 2013.

Centre Manager Scott Lahive said:

“We are delighted to have been shortlisted for these awards. In particular the Waste Management category. We have achieved zero to landfill in the last year and are really proud of our waste management achievements.”

“The SCEPTRE awards are very highly regarded in the industry and shopping centres of all sizes across the country compete. It’s a great achievement just to get nominated.”

Related link: Shopping in Bradley Stoke (The Journal)

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Tesco Extra at the Willow Brook Centre in Bradley Stoke is launching its F&F Spring/Summer 2013 range by hosting a charity fashion show on Saturday 13th April.

Their full range of stylish and affordable clothes will be modelled by Tesco staff and their families – babies, toddlers, teenagers and adults – during two catwalk shows at 11am and 2pm.

The show is free but all donations will go to the national Tesco charity partnership, Diabetes UK.

Customer Services Manager Alison Egan said:

“We are looking forward to showing Bradley Stoke shoppers the great new collection for this Spring/Summer. All the staff are excited about it. I’d like to thank the management team at the Willow Brook Centre for supporting us, and the wonderful staff at the Reflections hairdressing salon for doing our models’ hair.”

“Diabetes UK is an excellent charity and we hope to raise some money for them too. On the day, we’ll also be giving out vouchers that offer £5 off if you spend £25. Come and join us for a day of fashion and fun!”

Entertainment at the event will be provided by Bradley Stoke Radio (BSR) and the South West Winterguard Academy.

Source: Press release from the Willow Brook Centre

The Panasonic store at Bradley Stoke’s Willow Brook shopping centre has ceased trading in mysterious circumstances.

The consumer electronics shop located near the Town Square entrance to the mall closed on Sunday for what was advertised as a two-day period of “stock taking and refurbishment” but has failed to re-open this week.

Investigations by The Journal have revealed that references to the Bradley Stoke store and another branch in Clifton have been removed from the website of parent company Pana Stores (South West). The firm continues to trade from it four other stores in Dorchester, Exeter, Newton Abbot and Salisbury.

Twitter accounts operated by the company for its Bradley Stoke and Clifton outlets have also been shut down.

The Journal has heard that staff who turned up to work at the Bradley Stoke branch on Monday morning were told the store would be not be re-opening.

A customer service representative reached via a telephone number on the Pana Stores website confirmed that the Bradley Stoke store would not be re-opening but a request for a statement from the company’s head office has gone unanswered.

Management at the Willow Brook Centre appeared to be in the dark over what was happening with the Panasonic store. A source at the centre said they were “unavailable to comment”.

More: Staff kept in the dark about lease being marketed »

The installation of speed humps on the approach road to the Willow Brook shopping centre in Bradley Stoke has completely eliminated accidents, according to the centre’s manager Scott Lahive.

Traffic calming measures were installed on the road twelve months ago, following a series of accidents that the centre said were attributable to speeding.

Mr Lahive reported in a written response to this week’s meeting of the Bradley Stoke Safer and Stronger Community Group:

“Prior to installation there had been 58 reported incidents. In the twelve months since installation there has been 0 (zero)  reported incidents.”

The humps have been criticised for giving drivers “too much of a jolt”. There have also been claims that the obstacles cause damage to vehicles, affecting suspension, steering components and wheel alignment.

Replying to the criticism, Mr Lahive wrote:

“We are unaware of any reports of vehicle damage. It would be unlikely that these bumps cause damage or indeed to apportioning blame to these bumps where the town in general has many.”

Three sets of speed cushions were removed in February, “in order to aid traffic flow”, a move which the centre said had been made in response to customer feedback

Mr Lahive added:

“The situation is continuously monitored. At the moment there are no plans to remove any more of the speed bumps.”

“Whilst we appreciate this may be unpopular, the greatly improved standard of safety speaks for itself.”

Sid and Scrat, characters from the adventure animation film Ice Age, were in town yesterday to turn on the Christmas lights at the Willow Brook Centre.

Entertainment from Bradley Stoke Radio (BSR) set the scene in the Town Square, with Santa’s elves on hand to distribute presents.

The film characters appeared at intervals during the afternoon and they received a massive cheer from their many young fans when they returned at 6pm to witness the lights switch-on.

A new feature this year is the presence of a Rotary Club Wishing Well within the animated Christmas display opposite the Santander bank agency branch in the shopping mall.

From now until Christmas, visitors to the Centre will be able to make a donation while making a wish, with all proceeds going to local youth charities and the MS Therapy Centre charity in Bradley Stoke.

Roger Worth from The Rotary Club of Bristol Aztec said:

“We would like to thank the Willow Brook Centre very much for sponsoring our Wishing Well. We’re sure it will be a great success as it’s such a popular location for Bradley Stoke residents and they are very supportive of local charities.”

More photos from The Journal on PicasaWeb and Facebook.

See also: Video of the lights switch-on countdown on YouTube.