The Ridings Centre

The Ridings Shopping Centre is an indoor shopping centre in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It opened on 17 October 1983. The pioneering centre was a UK first and subsequently served as a template for many shopping centres throughout the UK. [1]

Rear of the centre with Wakefield Cathedral in the background

The Ridings Centre
Main entrance on Westgate precinct opposite Wakefield Cathedral
LocationWakefield, England WF1 1DS
Coordinates53.682149°N 1.496791°W / 53.682149; -1.496791
Opening date17 October 1983
OwnerNewRiver
No. of stores and services80
No. of anchor tenants5
No. of floors3
Parking1,070 spaces
Websitewww.ridingscentre.com

Stores and services

The Ridings Centre covers an area of 319,000 sq ft and has an estimated annual footfall of 11 million.[2] The centre contains a number of retailers such as Boots, Marks & Spencer, Morrisons, Primark and TK Maxx as well as a number of independent stores. The Centre has 3 car parks (each assigned a colour) including 3 multi-storeys and a rooftop car park.

A five-screen Reel Cinema opened in the centre in 2019.[3]

History

The Ridings Centre opened on 17 October 1983. It included construction of a large complex to house the upper and middle malls along with the blue and red car parks. In addition to this, an existing open shopping precinct on Kirgate originally opened in 1972 was roofed and extensively updated to become the lower mall, and the existing Almhouse Lane multi-storey was adapted to become the green car park. [4] It was the first of its kind in the UK, containing features such as a food court inspired by malls in the United States and its major popularity upon opening meant there were queues even to enter the centre.[5]

The centre was extensively refurbished in 2008 at a cost of £2.5 million. The improvements included a redesign of the centre's entrances as well as new lifts (replacing the original glass wall-climber lift that was the first in the UK).[6]

The Ridings Centre was purchased in 2015 by NewRiver. [7] This was followed by a £5 million renovation in 2017 which included a new food court and space for 'pop-up' shops.[8]

Awards
  • The Ridings Centre held the award for European Shopping Centre Of The Year for 10 consecutive years from 1983.[9]
  • In 2018 the centre won the Revo Purple Apple Marketing Awards, obtaining a Golden Apple Award. [10]

Transport connections
Ridings Centre Blue Car Park

The Ridings Centre is located near Wakefield Westgate and Wakefield Kirkgate railway stations as well as Wakefield Bus Station. The centre is located near the A61 and the M1.

References
  1. The Ridings Shopping Centre Celebrates 30 Years, BBC Look North, 16 October 2013, retrieved 11 May 2020
  2. "The Ridings Shopping Centre". NewRiver REIT. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  3. "New Family Friendly Reel Cinema Opens In Wakefield City Centre". Yorkshire Business Daily. 19 August 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  4. "Ridings Shopping Centre The Heart of Shopping in Wakefield" (PDF). truenorthbooks. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  5. "Landmark Shopping Centre Celebrates 30 Years". Yorkshire Post. 17 October 2013. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  6. Gatehouse, David (17 September 2013). "Ridings Shopping Centre Celebrates 30 Years". bdaily. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  7. "Ridings Shopping Centre Sold to NewRiver". Yorkshire Post. 23 December 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  8. "Details of £5million Revamp of Wakefield Shopping Centre Revealed". ITV News. 19 April 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  9. "Wakefield History-Things You Might Not Know". ManningStainton. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  10. "The Ridings Centre Win National Award". Wakefield First. 23 May 2018. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
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