Broadmarsh: watch this space

Pinning down hard facts about the future of Broadmarsh and whether or not Harvey Nichols will be part of it isn’t easy.
The rumours that the upmarket Knightsbridge store might be involved in the Nottingham shopping centre’s redevelopment first surfaced more than two years ago.
I was told then by retail property agents that representatives of Harvey Nicks had been to the city to assess its potential as the location for another regional store.
Then it all went quiet and it looked at one stage as though the idea had come to nothing.
The rumours resurfaced a couple of months ago when a key figure in the city told me Harvey Nichols was still very interested.
Yesterday, it emerged that the store chain has had discussions with Westfield, the Australian shopping centre giant that manages Broadmarsh. Those discussions are believed to have been going on for around six months.
In the current economic climate it may seem incredible that an upmarket store and a £700m redevelopment scheme should be going anywhere.
Well, they’re not yet.
Westfield isn’t about to start work on Broadmarsh anytime soon. Not just because of the downturn, but because it has its hands full with a massive new shopping centre at White City in London.
Harvey Nicks, meanwhile, is grappling with the retail downturn just like the rest of them – both at home and abroad (it’s foreign-owned).
But that doesn’t stop either of them talking about what they might do when things pick up.
Simple economic analysis says Nottingham is the logical place to do something. Harvey Nichols already has regional stores in Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and Edinburgh.
Incredible though it may seem, the amount of money spent in Nottingham’s shops every year is bigger than the amount spent in Leeds, Bristol or Edinburgh. It’s currently £1.7 billion a year and looks likely to go through £2 billion by 2018.
The global financial slump means the long-overdue redevelopment of Broadmarsh may yet be years away.
On its own, a Harvey Nichols signature won’t bring it any closer. But it may make it easier for Westfield to convince other major retailers that the revamped Broadmarsh is going to be something special.
Over the next few weeks, I suspect more news will emerge of developments that make a bigger, better, Broadmarsh with a Harvey Nichols more likely than not. So watch this space.