Westfield Stratford City Archives

November 28, 2024November 28, 2024

Hera aims to elevate Greek cuisine with opening at Stratford Cross

Recently opened restaurant and bar promises traditional flavours and dishes from Greece with a twist in presentation and approach

Hera is located at Stratford Cross between East Bank and Westfield Stratford City

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A s I walk into Hera in Stratford for the first time, I receive a warm, unabashed and vocal welcome from the staff.

While the interior of its expansive, double-height space has been filled with high-end decor, it immediately manages the challenging trick of coming off as welcoming.

Its owners might be from a different part of the Mediterranean, but they’ve successfully extracted the bonhomie from a bustling Athenian taverna and transplanted it to a ground floor restaurant at Stratford Cross.

Located off the main drag between Westfield and the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Hera has opened its doors with a weather eye on the future.

It’s opposite V&A East Museum, which is set to become a major pull for visitors from 2026 and is right beside a new footbridge to the cultural and educational hub whose full complement of organisations will include the London College Of Fashion, BBC Music Studios and Sadler’s Wells East.

Visitors and students need to eat and drink and the owners are betting Hera, with its views over the park to the Hackney Wick skyline, will be well-placed to serve them.

Hera's main dining room — Hera’s main dining room

elevating Greek cuisine

“There aren’t many options in London for elevated dining when it comes to Greek food,” said Stefan Petrushev, the establishment’s marketing manager.

“While we look in some senses like a fine dining restaurant, we wanted to make our food and drink accessible – Stratford Cross is a modern area and we wanted to reflect that.

“The menu is Greek through-and-through, using seasonal ingredients with beautiful presentation on the plate.

“With the menu, we wanted to reflect different aspects of Greek cuisine such as seafood, vegetables and meat, but to make the dishes a little more intricate and sophisticated than you’d find in a casual dining setting.

“For example, with our starter of melitzano salata, everything is made fresh. It’s about taking people’s expectations and going beyond them with the flavours and the way the dishes look.

“One of the wonderful things about Greek cuisine is that there’s a simplicity to it – you can really taste everything that goes in.”

Marketing manager at Hera, Stefan Petrushev

small plates at Hera

Hera’s menu is split into starters ranging in price from £4 to £9.

Beyond that, it’s essentially a small-ish plates place with dishes split into Cold And Raw, Garden, Farm and Sea.

There’s a bone-in sirloin for £40 and a whole grilled sea bass for £35, but the majority come in between the mid-teens and mid-20s.

The aim is to encourage sharing and sampling, with dishes arriving when ready rather than in sequence.

“In the run up to our official launch, we’ve tried to think of everything,” said Stefan, who grew up in Canning Town.

“It’s lovely during the day but at night it’s especially beautiful with all the lights visible through the window.

“The location doesn’t seem perfect yet, but it will be.

“With all of the openings at East Bank, we’re playing the long game.

“We’ll be right in the heart of it, especially with the unveiling of the new bridge, which will be the quickest way to reach the park from Stratford International station.

“In addition to the restaurant we will also have a winter garden which will be enclosed and fully heated in the winter and can then be opened up in the summer and that will be great.

“We’re also set on making sure we don’t replicate the formality of a West End restaurant.

“In terms of hospitality, we’re taking the things that work to ensure people get a professional service, but also the warmth of the Greek welcome.

“We’ll have the perfect lighting and the sexy groove of the music in the evening but without that intimidating atmosphere some restaurants can have.”

A warm, sweet pillow of Feta Saganaki, £13

indulging in drinks

Beyond the food, there are the drinks and Hera boasts an illuminated wall filled with colourful, inviting bottles.

“We felt there was a space for a really nice wine and cocktail bar in Stratford,” said Stefan.

“We only have our signature cocktails on the list alongside plenty of Greek wines – sparkling, white, red and orange.

“They’re so nice they can be a little dangerous to play with, especially the white.”

It’s a list designed to pair well with the dishes on offer, which feature a panoply of Greek flavours.

There’s a dish of baked feta, wrapped in kataifi and bathed in a rich bath of lemon honey.

Grilled octopus comes with a thick mashed swirl of fava beans, while beef meatballs are rich with mint and jazzed up by a little pile of tzatziki.

These are dishes to dip in and out of, a less stuffy and traditional take on a series of well-known classics.

Everywhere there’s honey, thyme and aubergine.

Stefan said: “If you’ve never really tried Greek food, we’re a great place to start because we focus on making things just that bit more special.

“If you’re going to a restaurant, you want to have an experience and that’s what we offer.

“We have an incredible space here and we want people to feel that personal touch – that this is food made by people who really care.”

Grilled octopus with fava beans at Hera, £19.90

key details: Hera

Hera is located on Arber Way at Stratford Cross and is within easy walking distance from Stratford International and Stratford stations.

It’s open daily from 11am-11.30pm. The winter garden is set to open in due course.

Find out more about the restaurant and bar here

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- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com

August 12, 2024August 12, 2024

W’air Sneaker Laundry offers sustainable cleaning in Canary Wharf

Brand has expanded its east London operation using air, tapwater and detergent to get stains and muck off fabric trainers

A W’air device is used to clean fabric trainers at the Canary Wharf branch

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The world increasingly lives in trainers.

Rewind 20 years and a typical Tube train on a weekday would be filled with commuters in smart leather shoes.

This was the boom time for cobblers and manufacturers of shoe polish.

But the world turns. The pandemic accelerated a process that was already well underway.

A more casual attitude to clothing in many workplaces has now found its feet – for comfort, for style and for simple economic reasons, the trainer has won out.

The logic of having a completely separate wardrobe for work and play, when so many industries no longer demand it is faltering.

But that also leaves us with a problem.

While a brush and a pot of polish were enough to refresh a pair of brogues, sneakers come in a much wider variety of styles and materials, providing a greater challenge when it comes to cleaning.

One might spend a painstaking evening with an old toothbrush, purchase an esoteric collection of products for the purpose or chuck them in a washing machine in a pillowcase – the latter not great for either the footwear or the appliance.

But there are other options. Recently opened in Canary Wharf, W’air Sneaker Laundry offers services specifically tailored to shoes featuring fabrics in their design – elements that are especially prone to staining.

It all started with a machine developed to clean clothes.

W'air Sneaker Laundry in Canary Wharf, with two men working behind the counter — W’air Sneaker Laundry is located under One Canada Square in Canary Wharf

the origin: W’air Sneaker Laundry

“The device started life at Unilever, where it was designed before being picked up by Pilot Lite Ventures, which launched it as the world’s first eco-friendly handheld fabric care device,” said Kate Rixon, retail lead at W’air Sneaker Laundry.

“It uses cold tapwater and air with a bit of detergent, so it got its name as a blend of water and air.

“I’d spent 30 years working for retail giant Arcadia until it went into administration in 2021 and joined Pilot Lite as a consultant.”

Initially, Kate sold the W’air services into retail businesses such as Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein, using it to spot clean stains and refresh garments in their stores.

“The whole ethos of W’air is sustainability,” said Kate.

“Garments in shops can get stained from children’s sticky fingers, make-up and even blood.

“Historically, those might be sent to landfill if they weren’t cleaned. W’air is about preventing that and also about reducing water use.

“Often garments don’t need washing, the stain just needs to be removed.

“The W’air device only uses cold water and air plus a mild detergent which gives clothes a fresh smell so you’re saving on water and electricity.”

Adding another string to the company’s bow, the decision was made to target trainers with a consumer-facing venture.

Image shows W'air Sneaker Laundry operations manager Oliver Grout, a man with long brown hair and a moustache in a blue top — W’air Sneaker Laundry operations manager Oliver Grout

dipping a toe in

“We decided to diversify into sneaker cleaning and opened a kiosk at Westfield Stratford City to test the market,” said Kate. “Now we’re in Canary Wharf too.

“People are wearing trainers a lot more now, so that’s one reason we went down this route alongside our garment cleaning business.

“The W’air device is a pressure pump and it works a bit like a steam cleaner only with cold water. It flushes out stains on fabric like oil, make-up, red wine and soy sauce.

“Then you just need to let whatever you’re washing dry overnight and it’s ready to go.

“Because there’s a slight fragrance with the detergent, it also refreshes clothes and sneakers, removing any odours without using chemicals like Febreze.”

As operations manager, Oliver Grout is the man charged with running the Canary Wharf and Stratford sites.

Now aged 21, he embarked on a retail career with Waitrose before swapping the supermarket for W’air.

“After training, we started off in Westfield and had a really good year before deciding it would be worth dipping our toes in Canary Wharf,” he said.

“The W’air device is part of our cleaning toolkit – it’s not a magic machine that can get rid of everything.

“But it does an amazing job on fabric trainers including suede and canvas, where the dirt can be embedded.

“It’s a targeted cleaner, and works very well with old stains which might otherwise be difficult to remove with your normal equipment. That’s where it really shines.

“It’s also good at removing excess dirt.

“If you’ve been out in fields with your shoes caked in mud, using a brush can just embed the dirt more deeply in the fabric.”

blasting away

“With the W’air device, you aim it at the dirt and it blasts it up and away from the shoe, rather than smudging it in further,” added Oliver.

“In addition to cleaning, we also offer deoxidisation.

“For example, white soles on trainers can start to bleach from exposure to direct sunlight, so we have machines which will reverse that process and restore the shoes back to their proper colour.

“Having had staff members with connections to Canary Wharf, we thought it would be a good area for our services.

“You get a lot of people passing through the malls whether they live here, work here or are just visiting.

“It’s hard to pinpoint our typical customer, but we see a lot of lifestyle sneakers because they get taken out and worn so much.

“People do bring in shoes that have been lying there for ages or hidden away in cupboards for anything up to a year.

“We won’t always be able to make shoes look like new, but we can smarten them up so they can be worn again.”

W’air recommends purely leather trainers are best taken to the cobbler, as its technology is much more geared towards cleaning fabric.

To that end, the firm also offers spot cleaning for garments and handbags at its sites.

The focus, however, is on trainers and W’air Sneaker Laundry will be popping up outside Waitrose on August 14, 2024, to demonstrate its cleaning powers to Wharfers in more detail.

Alternatively, drop into one of its branches and find out more.

key details: W’air Sneaker Laundry

You can find W’air Sneaker Laundry’s Canary Wharf branch in the mall underneath One Canada Square.

The business is weekdays from 8am-6pm and from 10am on Saturdays and 11am on Sundays with the same closing time.

Standard cleaning services for sneakers start at £30.

The business also has a branch at Westfield Stratford City.

Find out more about the brand here

Read Wharf Life’s e-edition here

Subscribe to our free Wharf Whispers newsletter here

- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com

June 13, 2024June 29, 2024

East Bank director Tamsin Ace on collaboration at Stratford campus

How Sadler’s Wells East, London College Of Fashion, UCL East, BBC Music Studios and V&A East are coming together at the cultural hub

Image shows Tamsin Ace, a woman with curly blonde hair in a black denim jacket in front of buildings at Stratford's East Bank — East Bank director Tamsin Ace

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East Bank is, arguably, the final great piece in Stratford’s Olympic legacy jigsaw.

Comprising significant bases for five totemic institutions, it’s set to be fully open by the end of 2025 – 13 years after the 2012 Games put east London in the global spotlight.

Building on the successes of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park – including all the former sports venues and the extensive residential and commercial regeneration that has taken place locally – East Bank delivers something different for the area.

Even if just one of the London College Of Fashion, the V&A, the BBC, Sadler’s Wells and UCL had chosen to create a new base in Stratford, it would have been seen as a triumph for the architects of the Games.

That all five are committed to the project gives East Bank a kind of cultural and educational heft that hasn’t been seen in the capital for decades.

With four of the organisations sitting proudly overlooking the park on the edge of the River Lea and UCL a short walk away, the concentration of is palpably powerful.

Image shows a sculpture of the Earth hanging inside a large concrete atrium at UCL East on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park — UCL East is now fully up and running

greater than the sum: East Bank

There’s a wealth of potential for collaboration and interaction between the five, but the project isn’t leaving things to chance and happenstance.

Tamsin Ace arrived as director of East Bank in September last year – more or less at the same time the London College Of Fashion began welcoming staff, students and visitors to its new campus.

With UCL East also fully open and Sadler’s Wells East set to launch later this year, it’s her job to help maximise interaction between the organisations for the benefit of all – cementing the cultural legacy of the Games.

“My role is to support and enable all these institutions to come together and to make sure they build on each other’s ideas and resources, while also thinking about how they can connect better,” she said.

“It’s a gift, because all of these partners want to be here and to connect.

“They all want to put down roots and have a home in east London, to listen and learn from the amazing heritage and history of the creative communities that have been in this area long before East Bank was even a twinkle in London’s eye.

“To do that I have the full support of the project’s board, which is made up of the principals of the five main partners.

“I’ve got a pass to all of the buildings so I can work from any of them and also understand their programmes and the different ways they work.

“We have creative working groups to discuss opportunities and plans, so my job is to have my ear to the ground, to know what everyone’s thinking and planning.

“It’s also to be out in the community, being really visible, talking to people and hearing what their priorities are so I can help create links.”

Image shows a computer generated picture of the London College Of Fashion, V&A East, BBC Music Studios and Sadler's Well's East at East Bank — An artist’s impression of how East Bank will look when work is finished

cultural programming

Having studied drama at university, Tamsin initially headed for the classroom after realising that acting and “being a Spice Girl” weren’t really for her.

But life as a teacher wasn’t right either and she wound up working for small arts centres instead.

“I was engaging with children and young people and through that found out about this kind of role – developing ways to get different audiences involved and to unlock and learn from their creativity,” she said.

“I love it when the magic comes together and something you hadn’t thought possible is created.”

After more than a decade doing just that at the Southbank Centre – “implementing festival methodology to create the feel of a bustling port city at arts venues by programming around central themes” – and roles at the Museum Of The Home in Shoreditch and at the London College Of Fashion, she’s come to East Bank to help fulfil its 2012 legacy promise.

“All five of our institutions have got public-facing programmes and my job is to connect the dots,” she said.

“We’re all talking all the time. It’s about collaboration, sharing resources and ideas, and it’s also about embedding ourselves in the community.

“It’s also about being open with our priorities and aims, and properly connecting with people who are living and working here.

“Over the last seven years, the organisations have all been building links with key partners such as schools to build programmes that respond to the needs and values of the people locally.

“Ultimately, we want visitors, students and staff to be able to navigate East Bank’s five buildings and understand how they connect to each other.

“In 10 years’ time I would love to see large-scale programming across all of the organisations that builds on their amazing creativity and skills.”

Image shows a curved concrete staircase at the London College Of Fashion in Stratford — Students and staff are already enjoying the London College Of Fashion’s new base

a new hub for creativity

“I think this place can be as successful as the Southbank Centre – there will be enough for everyone here – but I think they are two very different offers,” added Tamsin.

“There’s a magic about coming to this part of the city with its busy, bustling shopping experience at Westfield and then East Bank for culture and creativity.

“I think if we get the local story right and have a programme that is relevant to the community then we’ll get the world right too.

“Tourists will come because they want to feel they are part of events that really do mean something.”

While University College London and the London College Of Fashion are up and running, something of a watershed moment is coming for the project with the opening of Sadler’s Wells East later this year.

“That will be the first of our cultural partners to have an offering as part of the night-time economy and it will be really exciting to see how the evening shows and workshops change this space,” said Tamsin.

“Sadler’s Wells has also got its hip-hop academy opening, so we’ll have 16 to 19-year-olds learning and practising on-site.

“The building has been designed with an outside and inside feel, so we’re hoping people will get the idea of dance tumbling out into the public realm and people will come to see the next generation of dancers performing or warming up.

“I’m really excited about this summer because this is the time we’re really starting to build that excitement and buzz – that East Bank is a place you can come and bump into amazing art and ideas.

“It’s a bit of a taster of what’s to come as we build and grow towards total opening by the end of 2025.

“It’s exhilarating and I can’t wait to see how it feels when all five organisations are open.

“You might be walking from UCL over to the Stratford waterfront and know you’ve got a BBC orchestra rehearsing in one of the studios, a big exhibition at V&A East, dancers performing on the community dance floor outside Sadler’s Wells East and a fashion show being cooked up at the London College Of Fashion.

“I want everyone who comes here to feel that same sense of excitement and pride we all felt around the 2012 Games themselves.”

Image shows a dancer dressed in black interacting with a staircase ahead of Greenwich + Docklands International Festival in Septemeber — Greenwich + Docklands International Festival is set to come to Stratford in 2024

coming up at East Bank

This summer is when things really start to happen at East Bank in 2024.

Activities kick off with the Great Get Together on June 15 – a free community event at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park with activities spanning music, dance, arts, sports and, naturally food.

Then, there’s the UCL Festival Of Engineering on July 15, a celebration of 150 years of advancements in technology, problem solving and creating things.

July will also see London College Of Fashion students present their work, with an exhibition at the East Bank campus, while V&A East will unveil its Made In East London commission – artworks that will be displayed on its exterior.

August is all about the hip hop, with breaking sessions at Sadler’s Wells East scheduled for 3, 5-8 and 9-10.

Then, September 7 sees the Greenwich + Docklands International Festival pitch up at neighbouring Stratford Cross with its Dancing City programme.

Find our more about the campus here

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- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com

May 29, 2024May 29, 2024

Eclipso Life Chronicles brings evolution to Westfield Stratford City

Virtual reality experience sees guests transported back in time to meet exotic creatures of the past

An image of four people wearing black virtual reality visors to explore Eclipso Life Chronicles — Visitors don VR headsets to explore Eclipso Life Chronicles

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Eclipso has unveiled Life Chronicles, the latest virtual reality presentation to arrive at its Westfield Stratford City facility.

The experience is a collaboration with content producer Excurio and the Museum D’Histoire Naturelle of France, takes visitors on a time-travelling romp from the first creatures in the primordial soup to the emergence of early humans.

It’s the second immersive experience to play at the east London facility and is now running concurrently with pyramid exploration adventure Horizon Of Khufu.

Lasting 45 minutes, Life Chronicles sees participants don VR headsets to pursue a robot guide called Darwin and scientist Charlie as they travel through 3.5billion years of evolution on a quest to return to the present.

Along the way they both offer snippets of information about the environments and some of the animals encountered.

While the story is linear in nature – a quest to recover lost pieces of tech – the various places presented can be explored freely by visitors, who can get up close with a range of sharply rendered digital flora and fauna.

Images shows a rendering of ghostly humanoid shapes in a forest environment from Life Chronicles — Visitors appear as ghostly shapes, guided by Charlie and Darwin

excited by Eclipso Life Chronicles

“We’ve been super excited about this content coming to London,” said venue director and UK spokesperson for Eclipso Karl Blake-Garcia.

“It’s been a year in the making and it’s a topic that people may not have revisited since they were at school.

“What we find, especially with adults who bring their children, is that they fall in love with the subject all over again.

“What we wanted to do was present these environments so people can have those moments of nostalgia while learning about evolution and dinosaurs when seeing them as if they were standing right there.

“It’s an incredible experience and there’s nowhere else you can do something like this.

“While the most popular part of the experience is probably the Jurassic era, the more obscure moments in Earth’s history are also really appealing to a lot of people because not everybody knows about them.

“Personally, I love entertainment that gives me that ‘wow’ reaction.

Image shows an artist's impression of dinosaurs meeting Triceratops in the VR experience — The experience features and encounter with dinosaurs

finding a favourite

“My favourite part of Life Chronicles is probably walking on the edge of a cliff just after encountering some prehistoric dwarf elephants – that’s very cool.

“But I also love being under the sea and seeing the ancient aquatic life in the oceans swimming past.

“No matter what you’re interested in, there are things that will resonate.

“The experience covers plant and animal life as well as early human history and it’s very important, because the Earth’s past is a really big part of who we are today and why we are the way we are.

“The biggest joy we get at Eclipso is seeing the raw, unfiltered emotion from people leaving the experience.

“With our Egyptian experience, I’ve seen people come out in tears of joy because they’ve got to experience the pyramids.

“VR is like magic – I love that Eclipso is able to create these really beautiful moments for people – it’s touching and amazing to think that all they are doing in reality is walking around an empty space that has some black and white stickers on the wall.

“I can’t wait to see what the reaction will be to Life Chronicles as we see more and more people join us for the experience.”

Images shows an artist's impression of prehistoric sea creatures in the VR world under the ocean — Visitors travel back to the ancient ocean

accessibility at Eclipso Life Chronicles

Eclipso’s VR jaunts are suitable for a wide range of participants including children – although those visiting will need to be able to stand and walk for 45 minutes without a break.

While in the virtual landscape, participants see people in their group as named ghostly outlines, while participants in other groups simply appear as anonymous human shapes (so visitors can avoid bumping into each other).

Real walls appear as bright red grids to prevent the immersed from bumping into them.

This rendering shows microscopic creatures as they appear in Eclipso Life Chronicles — Life Chronicles includes a trip to the primordial soup

tried and tested

While significant efforts have been made to ensure the info imparted by Charlie and robot cube and time travel device Darwin, is historically accurate, the attraction of Life Chronicles is really in its visual chutzpah.

There’s some sort of plot that means it’s necessary to collect techy orbs, strewn throughout our evolutionary past, but the joy is more in the journey, than the destination.

With VR goggles on, a wonderful, if somewhat stylised carousel of worlds unfolds as we ride a trilobite, narrowly miss a collision with an Icthyosaur and get caught in a Mexican stand-off between T-Rex parents and a group of Triceratops.

But as each new location pops into view, there’s an irresistible temptation to simply kneel down and fixate on the subtle textures employed to render a tiny insect or the feathers on a parrot.

While there’s a spot of video game gimmickry as we shrink, grow and fly on imaginary platforms, the real magic comes in simply seeing extinct animals wander out of the undergrowth.

It’s as close as the current tech will currently allow to that burst of excitement when one encounters a real wild animal.

The only frustration I felt was that I couldn’t pick up a tiny prehistoric horse and bring him home – maybe that’s the 4.0 iteration.

Images shows a painting of dwarf elephants as they appear on a cliff edge as part of the experience — Dwarf elephants feature in Eclipso Life Chronicles

need to know

Life Chronicles is currently running at the Eclipso Center at Westfield Stratford City.

The facility is open from 9am at weekends and from 11am on weekdays. Adult tickets start at £21 with tickets for under-18s and concessions costing £18

Find our more about the experience here

Read Wharf Life’s e-edition here

Subscribe to our free Wharf Whispers newsletter here

- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com

September 6, 2023September 6, 2023

Stratford: How Westfield Stratford City puts community and sustainability at its heart

URW head of shopping centre management talks passion and outreach at the east London mall

Katie Wyle of Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield – image Matt Grayson

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Katie Wyle never intended to go into retail.

Growing up, she worked in the village shop her parents ran and swore off the sector when she went to university to study English and drama.

“But what do you do as a student? You work in shops,” she said.

“I worked for Tesco, Jigsaw, Disney and more.

“I did a wonderful ski season after university, but then realised I had a loan to pay off so I went to work at Marks And Spencer, initially in the men’s pants and socks department as a Christmas temp.”

It was the start of a journey that would see her rise to deputy manager of the brand’s Bluewater store.

A stint at Fortnum And Mason followed and then Selfridges as assistant store director before she became assistant general manager of Westfield Stratford City in 2014.

Now head of shopping centre management for the whole of the UK at Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) – the company that runs the massive malls – her responsibilities include overseeing its east London operation, the busiest in Europe by footfall.

And, despite the pressures of catering for more than 51million visitors each year, she’s smiling.

“It’s just so varied,” she said. “You can come in, have a conversation about toilets, fire safety, Christmas, the community, capital investment or how we’re planning our budget processes for the next five years.

“You have to change your thought processes completely from one meeting to the next and the people we work with are all so genuinely passionate about this business.

“I think everybody should work in retail and hospitality at some point because they give you experience of so many areas.”

The passion of her colleagues is one reason Katie continues to smile throughout our interview.

“Westfield naturally faces problems and challenges, as any business does – especially on a site welcoming millions and employing thousands.

Westfield Stratford City is the busiest shopping centre in Europe

But there’s an underlying pride in the mission, which is about much more than providing retail units to big brands.

“We take being part of the community very seriously,” said Katie.

“That’s not just the managers in the centre, but everyone in the team – we are all focused on the social impact of our roles.

“The company set itself objectives when it first came into the UK from Australia – to create jobs and value locally around each of our centres.

“We have a community manager and her job is to work at grass roots level with individuals, organisations, local employment support groups and schools.

“We are so focused on improving our social value every year – what we can do to keep it going and build on that.

“We assess what’s going on in the community and where investment and support is needed.

“She then works up a community resilience action plan for each centre that is bespoke to its needs.

“That’s in partnership with the London Borough Of Newham here and Hammersmith And Fulham over at Westfield London.

“Then we measure that impact. That’s not just URW, that’s our contractors as well.

“If you talk to anyone here, community and sustainability are our biggest themes, as they affect everybody.”

On the community front, Westfield Stratford City is a founding partner and official sponsor of the Foundation For Future London – a charity founded in 2015 to connect the various cultural institutions that are coming to East Bank with local people.

“The team here has done this huge project with the East Bank Creative Futures Fund – £10million of investment – which is now in its fourth year,” said Katie.

“It’s phenomenal, with 155 community organisations funded and more than 23,000 participants.

URW has invested £10million in the East Bank Creative Futures Fund

“Each year the applications for funding are open for small, medium and large projects, ranging from £3,000 to £50,000.

“So far they’ve awarded more than £2.5million for a wide spectrum of organisations including community facilities for cycling and skateboarding, local creative businesses and talent development programmes.

“We know our customers want to feel more holistic and joined-up when they come here and the regeneration of both Shepherds Bush and Newham has been a testament to the success of the Westfield centres.”

On the sustainability front, URW is pressing forward with its Better Places 2030 strategy, which aims to reduce its centres’ environmental impact.

“It’s the right thing to do,” said Katie. “It’s not just about reducing the energy we use, but making sure we’re only getting it from green, renewable sources.

“We already operate with zero waste to landfill – all of our food waste, for example goes into a digester which processes it down into pellet form and now we’re working on how we can transform that into compost so customers can come and take a bag for their gardens.

“We want to create a complete cycle.

“There are so many initiatives – we already have rainwater harvesting and we’re looking to install ethically sourced solar panels on both Stratford and Shepherd’s Bush this year.

“It’s vital we know where they are coming from and that there’s no involvement with modern slavery.”

It’s this attention to detail that indirectly should also prove attractive to future residents of Coppermaker Square – URW’s residential venture in Stratford.

“This is somewhere you can now live, work and play,” said Katie.

“They are fabulous buildings and the scheme will be finished next year.

“There are nine blocks and it’s the first time we’ve done build-to-rent in the UK so it’s really exciting for us.

“Why would you not live somewhere like this? The facilities will blow you away.

“There’s a co-working space, a fitness centre, lounge, roof garden, outdoor terrace, concierge service – it’s what people expect now.

Westfield is set to host a Future You event at Stratford in October for young people

“The surrounding area is so beautiful with the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and all the other attractions of east London.

“It’s incredible and has transport connections to Essex, Kent and all across London including the Elizabeth Line from east to west, which is amazing.

“Our centres continue to have major brands invest in them, showing their trust and faith in what we’re doing.

“For example, Sephora is set to open its second UK store at Stratford in November and we’ve already seen the halo effect with other beauty brands doing well around it after it opened in Shepherd’s Bush.

“Westfeld Stratford City is a beautiful shopping environment and, while retail is having a tough time at the moment, that means we need diversity.

“Young people don’t necessarily just want to come and spend money on buying things – they want experiences and we need to cater for that too.”

Younger shoppers are very much on Westfield’s radar, with another of its Future You events set to take place from October 19-22 aimed at engaging with 12-to-18-year-olds.

Katie said: “We’ll be putting on loads of free activities. Last year there was a really popular one with Finfluencers and FinTokkers, although I’m not really cool enough to know about that.”

As a measure of the success of Olympic legacy and regeneration, it all makes for an impressive achievement.

Prices for homes at Coppermaker Square start at £2,480pcm.

Follow this link for more information about Westfield Stratford City

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- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com

April 13, 2022April 14, 2022

Stratford: How BabaBoom combines its founder’s love of travel, running and kebabs

Latest branch of London business at Westfield Stratford City will offer £1 meals on its launch day

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A little like the kebabs her company serves, there are lots of ingredients to Eve Bugler.

There’s the degree in PPE from Oxford, time spent working for a Democrat in the States, a stint at McKinsey and a spell at a development bank in Haiti in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake that devastated the island.

Then there’s the lifelong passion for distance running culminating in selection to compete for England at ultramarathon distances, a prospect stymied by Covid cancellations and now on hold due to the fact that she’s currently pregnant.

We’re here to talk about all of that, because it’s all relevant to her move into the hospitality industry and the decision to start her own business – BabaBoom – which is set to open what will technically be its third location at Westfield Stratford City in April.

- In celebration of its opening on Thursday, April 21, 2022, Bababoom will be offering kebabs for £1 between noon and 2pm with all proceeds going to Greenhouse Sports, a charity that supports and mentors children.



- There’s more: Starting May 1, BabaBoom will be sending its Kebab Chase from its Battersea branch to its new Stratford location and back. Participants should turn up at Battersea from 11am, do the run by 4pm (proof via selfie), and get a FREE kebab for their trouble. Usually chases take place on the first Sunday of the month. Find out more about the Kebab Chase here

“When I was in Haiti working on an infrastructure project, I realised that the people having the greatest impact were the entrepreneurs,” said Eve.

“I came back with the idea that I really wanted to start my own business, and I wanted to do hospitality – it’s great for social mobility.

“It’s the only industry where you can come in completely unskilled, and you can move up really quickly.

“Because I’d worked behind a bar in Greece and in a ski chalet in France, I knew it was a really positive industry to be part of – when you’re working in hospitality it’s easy to make someone’s day.”

A selection of the dishes available at BabaBoom

Having returned to the UK, Eve first landed a role at Nando’s, working for the company for four years, first in London and then Johannesburg and Delhi.

She then secured investment from the hospitality giant’s then CEO, among others, to develop her own business, launching BabaBoom in Battersea in 2015.

“Boom is my favourite word – it’s filled with positivity,” said Eve.

“My dad has been a massive influence on me – an Irishman who came to London and someone who’s always interested in the next opportunity.

“Baba is the Turkish and Arabic word for father and the two together just means we’re doing things with energy.

“BabaBoom is a passion project. As an elite runner and someone who’s lived around the world, I always found myself gravitating towards kebabs as the best sort of fast food.

Eve says kebabs are a comparatively healthy fast food

“I can’t really eat pizzas and burgers when I’m training properly, whereas kebabs are generous, protein-filled with salad, fresh bread and good Middle Eastern flavours.

“I thought that somebody needed to do that in the UK and make it a fast food accessible and welcoming to everybody.

“Kebabs have often been marginalised as a late night snack but they’re good all day.

“We’re all about making really fresh kebabs with good quality ingredients and cooking over charcoal, which helps the flavour.

“We import a lot of our spices and flavours from the Middle East and that gives our products a fresh taste.

“It’s bringing the fire to the table and I think that’s why we’ll stand out at Westfield – customers want that immediacy but also that theatre of cooking.”

Eve after completing the Paris Half Marathon while pregnant

Having launched in Battersea, BabaBoom’s second location in Islington fell victim to the pressures of the pandemic but with restrictions receding, a fresh opening beckoned.

“Westfield came along as an opportunity, and it’s great for us,” said Eve.

“To have a site which is a stone’s throw from the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is incredibly exciting, because it fits the upbeat, energetic nature of our brand.

“It’s really easy to slag off kebabs, but small businesses largely run by immigrants are really successful, and I think there’s a real vibe in kebab shops – they’re a refuge, there’s a sense of fun, you chat to the people next to you.

“When people come down to us they will be struck by our friendliness – we say we’re gluten-friendly, vegan-friendly, but overall we’re just friendly.

“Then it’s about freshness and the generosity of our portions.

“Time Out said our food was as healthy as people want it to be and that’s hitting it on the nose.

“We’re not here to preach or to make you eat low-calorie food. We’re here to provide really generous plates that can be really good for you.

“Then, if you want some curly fries, you deserve them too. We’re here to be accessible to everyone.”

That extends to kebabs made with beef (a cheaper option than lamb), chicken and plenty of options for veggies and vegans.

“In Middle Eastern food, the vegan thing isn’t a cop out, it’s accidental,” said Eve.

“For example, our super green falafel and sweet potato hummus are entirely vegan, as is our Triple-B sauce – a fiery condiment made with Aleppo chilli.

“Our bread is baked fresh and all our kebabs come with slaw with apple in it, which gives it a sweet crunchiness. We’ve thought about the detail to make everything delicious.”

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