Whiteley Village set for big name brands

Author: Ashley Curtis - 14 November 2012

A £64 million project is set to add a new high street to the town of Whiteley, a relatively youthful area - north of junction nine of the M27 - that is only just over 20 years old.

Whiteley Village, an outlet shopping mall created in 1999, was 'deemed a failure' a decade later but is now being rejuvenated with a number a big name brands signed up to the project.

Starbucks, Sports Direct, H&M, Boots, Schuh, River Island, Prezzo and many more have signed up to let stores in the high street, as well as a number of local businesses, reports portsmouth.co.uk.

With the potential implementation of street furniture bins, steel benches and transportation links, Whiteley Village could be one of Britain's hottest new high streets. 

Mike Evans, chairman of Whiteley Parish Council, commented on the build: "It will create about 1,000 jobs. With a range of restaurants there will be people working until 11 o'clock at night, and all the shops will be trading until 8pm, so there will be a huge number of part-time roles created as well.

"The biggest issue at the moment is how the parking will be managed. There will be 1,136 spaces, which is a little bit down from the 1,300 we had before," he added.

According to completelyretail.co.uk, the centre is due to open in May 2013.