Westfield and Hammerson showcased their plans for Croydon to potential investors on Wednesday., including the name for their joint venture.

Steve Yewman, Development Director at Westfield and Robin Dobson, Director of Retail Development at Hammerson, unveiled the Croydon Partnership to various businesses.

The two retail giants will come together under the Croydon Partnership so they can take forward their £1bn redevelopment of the town centre with a solid identity.

Mr Yewman and Mr Dobson were speaking to delegates taking part in a tour of the town courtesy of Develop Croydon, a group dedicated to promoting the town to encourage investment.

The joint venture by the two companies is seen as a catalyst for wider regeneration of the town.

Redevelopment of the area, totalling 200,000 sq m, will include retail, leisure and residential with the potential for hotels and offices. It is estimated over 5,000 new jobs will be created.

Mr Yewman told businesses and potential investors that the aim is to have a planning application in with the council by the end of June.

The partnership also brought in Allies & Morrison and Leonard Design Architects to draw up the masterplan.

My Yewman said: “We spent a year opposing each other but we decided that we needed to take Croydon forward.

“With the help of the Mayor of London we got together, got a timetable sorted and set out a plan to get this sorted in 5 years.

“There are a lot of groups that are galvanising the town at the moment. Croydon BID, the Portas Town Team, the Restaurant Quarter and others all said, post the riots, we need to take control of our town.

“We say this is part of the Croydon Partnership, a positive message. We are all in this together, we have to deliver.”

Director of development at Westfield, John Burton, spoke to the Croydon Guardian after the announcement yesterday, and said it was important the joint venture had a proper identity.

He said the announcement was not to be confused with the final branding of the redevelopment, which will be decided after various consultations including community focus groups.

Mr Burton said: “What we needed to avoid is the confusion of what it will be called, as a lot of work needs to be done on that with the community, but we felt we should give the combined team some sort of identity.

“The groundswell is certainly growing and the belief that there is project here and the benefits that will flow from it to other developers is growing.

“There is quite a momentum building. We hope to be in with the council in June, we are just finalising a date for that.

“Westfield submitted their planning document last year but with Hammerson on board we are making a few changes to that.

“We are taken on board the view of both parties and hopefully the council will give it the green light. That will be a momentous day for Croydon to know there is a scheme that has the council support and the investor support to bring things forward.

“The Croydon Partnership doesn’t need a big announcement, it is just easier to talk about the partnership, rather than saying Westfield and Hammerson all the time.”