Thurrock lakeside

Lakeside Shopping Centre, branded as Intu Lakeside, is a large out-of-town shopping centre located in West Thurrock, in the borough of Thurrock, Essex just beyond the eastern boundary of Greater London. It was constructed on the site of a former chalk quarry. The first tenants moved into the complex in 1988 and it was completed in 1990, being opened on 25 October of that year by Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy, Marcus Bradford and Angus Ogilvy.The shopping centre, in addition to the retail parks, forms one of the largest shopping areas in a single location within Europe, with almost 2600000sqft of retail space on a site of 200acre. The community of Chafford Hundred has grown to the east of the centre since its opening. Its main rival is the Bluewater Shopping Centre in Greenhithe, Kent, just across the River Thames.The centre was rebranded as "intu Lakeside" in 2013 following the renaming of parent Capital Shopping Centres Group plc as "intu properties plc".Main shopping centreThe shopping centre is the eleventh largest in Britain with 1434000sqft available as retail floorspace - the MetroCentre in Gateshead, after its expansion in 2004, is the largest. There are over 250 shops (including the anchor stores of Marks and Spencer, House of Fraser, Debenhams, and Primark), 50 cafes and restaurants, and a 26acre lake named Alexandra Lake with a PADI certified diving school complex. Intu Lakeside has on average 500,000 visitors per week.

Tags: Shopping Mall,Landmark & Historical Place,Grocery Store