The Bradley Stoke Journal

A squad of former Gurkha soldiers, armed with “here to help” lollipop signs, is today on duty in the car park of Bradley Stoke’s Willow Brook Centre, helping shoppers find their way into the new development.

But what will you find when you get there? Check out The Journal’s live guide to what’s open and what’s not.

UPDATE: Reflections hairdressing have told us they will now be opening tomorrow (Tuesday 14th October). Greggs the Bakers will open on Thursday (16th October).

The Willow Brook Centre, Bradley Stoke’s new town centre development, opened its doors to the public today, when the giant new Tesco Extra store began trading.

A small group of shoppers and representatives of the local media assembled outside the Town Square entrance to the centre’s shopping mall shortly before 8am this morning.

On the stroke of eight o’clock, the shutters to the new store were raised and security staff allowed the first shoppers into the centre.

First into the store was Nigel Grove from Portishead, a landlord with a number of properties in Bradley Stoke, closely followed by a group of local schoolchildren. The first shoppers were greeted by Tesco Customer Service Manager Matt Hill and Publicity Representative Darryl Freedman.

A number of early shoppers were presented with £10 vouchers to spend in the store. A delighted Mr Grove said “I spent my two vouchers on Christmas chocolates - that’s the earliest I ever done my Christmas shopping!” He was later seen leaving the store with a trolley full of bargains.

Once the initial rush was over, quiet returned to the Town Square, and it was time for Bradley Stoke Mayor Robert Jones, Willow Brook Centre manager Scott Lahive and Tesco Extra manager Oliver Hill to take part in a live interview on BBC Radio Bristol [listen again: broadcasts at +1:19 and +2:07, available for the for next seven days only].

This was the scene shortly before 8am this morning (Monday 13th October) after workmen had toiled through the night to get Bradley Stoke’s new Town Square ready for today’s official opening of the Willow Brook Centre.

The stone pillars in the foreground are intended to support a set of wrought iron gates brought over from France, but construction difficulties meant that they could not be erected to their full height in time for today’s opening.

As the opening hour of 8am approached, a small group of people assembled outside the entrance to the main building of the Willow Brook Centre, waiting for the new Tesco Extra store to open its doors.

Bradley Stoke Mayor Robert Jones was also present, having given taken part in a live interview on BBC Radio Bristol shortly after 7am.

The Subway sandwich store, which borders the Square, had already begun trading when The Journal’s reporter arrived at 7:45am. Elsewhere in the Square, KFC was set to open at 10am, but there were no signs of activity in the Greggs bakery shop, which seems to need a little more work before it is ready to open.

Check back soon for more coverage of the Willow Brook Centre’s opening day.

Hundreds of construction workers were last night labouring into the night to get Bradley Stoke’s new town centre ready for today’s official opening.

The Willow Brook Centre is due to open its doors at 8am, when the giant Tesco Extra store will begin trading.

Whilst the Bradley Stoke Way side of the complex was relatively quiet on Sunday, with the road and footway restrictions finally lifted after months of disruption, the new Town Square was a hive of activity as workers rushed to remove scaffolding, lay paving and erect signage.

The existing Tesco store closed its doors for the last time at 4pm, after which staff were seen to transfer filing cabinets and other office equipment over to the new store. Meanwhile, in the car park, workers were already erecting signs announcing that the Willow Brook Centre and Tesco Extra store are “now open”.

Work was expected to go on into the early hours, with one source citing 4am as the expected finishing time.

Shoppers will be disappointed to hear that a further outlet has announced that it is not ready to open on the frst day. A spokesperson for Costa Coffee told The journal that their first day of trading would be Wednesday this week. The company joins 1st Equity (Nationwide), Reflections and O2 in not meeting the official Willow Brook Centre opening date.

Nevertheless, it expected that residents of Bradley Stoke will turn out in numbers to inspect their new town centre, for which they have so long waited.

The Journal will be on site throughout the day, so check back later for reports and photos.

With the official opening just days away, Bradley Stoke’s new town centre is a hive of activity. Hundreds of construction workers and shopfitters are labouring flat out to ensure that the Willow Brook Centre can open to the public on Monday morning (13th October 2008).

The Journal’s reporter was allowed in to the centre on Friday to record the scene just three days before opening.

The new Town Square is now fully paved and work is underway to install art works designed by the Walter Jack Studio. A children’s activity zone is already in place, but delays in installation of stonework pillars mean that the feature wrought iron gateway into the square is unlikely to be ready in time for the official opening.

Stores set be be trading around the Town Square on the opening day include Subway, Costa Coffee, Greggs the Bakers and KFC.

Inside the main Willow Brook Centre building, the Tesco Extra store is fully stocked and ready to trade. Other stores in the adjoining shopping mall are in various stages of completion. Carphone Warehouse and Shoe Zone appear almost ready to trade, but the Reflections hairdressing salon is at a less advanced stage and the O2 and 1st Equity (Nationwide) stores are little more than shells.

Contacts at 1st Equity and Reflections have told The Journal that their stores will now open on Monday 20th October, one week after the official opening ceremony, while contractors in the O2 store said that they would be working on the store well into next week.

The Willow Brook Centre opens its doors at 8am on Monday, when the Tesco Extra store will begin trading. The official opening ceremony will take place at 10am within the shopping mall.

Photos from Friday’s tour around the Willow Brook Centre can be seen in The Journal’s PicasaWeb gallery:

• Album
• Slideshow

Thursday evening last week saw members of Bradley Stoke Town Council invited to a preview tour of the centre [more photos, courtesy of Tesco Stores Limited].

Construction workers and shopfitting teams have been busy at Bradley Stoke’s new Town Square, which is due to open on Monday (13th October), along with the rest of the Willow Brook Centre.

The KFC store appears to be in the most advanced state of completion, with internal fittings and external signage clearly visible. Costa Coffee’s outlet also has external signage in place, but seems to need more work inside. The Greggs (bakers) store, situated to the right of Costa in the photo, would appear to require plenty of work before Monday’s opening.

Paving of the Square itself is well underway. The two stone columns visible in the centre of the paved area are believed to be supports for a “feature gateway” that will be hoisted into position over the next few days.

A further two new tenants of the Willow Brook Centre have been announced in a press release by Tesco, joint owners (with the BP Pension Fund) of Bradley Stoke’s new town centre development.

The newcomers are ladies-only fitness club Curves and Explore Learning, a learning centre for 5 to 14 year olds offering maths and English tuition.

Curves is the largest fitness franchise in the world with 10,000 locations worldwide. The company’s nearest existing centres are at Chepstow and Midsomer Norton. A 30 minute workout that burns 500 calories is the centrepiece of the Curves offering.

Explore Learning has existing centres at Sainsbury’s Emersons Green and Clifton Down Shopping Centre. The company claims to “inspire children to develop a completely new approach to learning, giving them a newfound confidence in themselves, an enthusiasm for learning, the ability to work independently, plus the knowledge and skills to assist them not just at school, but in their everyday lives.”

The two new units will open in January, three months after the main opening of the Willow Brook Centre on Monday 13th October.

The press release confirms that the much-rumoured Subway, Shoe Zone and O2 stores will begin trading on the centre’s opening day.