One of the UK’s last major open A1 fashion parks opened last week at Gallions Reach in Beckton, east London.

Castlemore Securities’ 300,000 sq ft (27,870 sq m) redevelopment of the former Beckton gasworks has been funded by Pillar Property. The property will be injected into the Hercules Property Unit Trust, which Pillar manages.

The project is something of an anomaly in that its planning status pre-dates the tightening of planning restrictions during the mid-1990s.

The 55-acre former gasworks was heavily contaminated and so construction was delayed by the necessary remediation works.

The site is anchored by a 109,000 sq ft (10,100 sq m) Tesco store, and fashion anchors Next and Arcadia have both taken stores of more than 20,000 sq ft (1,858 sq m).

Other occupiers include Borders, WHSmith, Boots, Superdrug, HMV and Sports World.

Castlemore chairman Grahame Whateley said: ‘This is a modern scheme, attractive to retailers and consumers alike. It will transform the face of shopping in a part of London that has traditionally been blighted with dereliction and in need of regeneration.’

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