Town Centre

Britain's first pedestrianised shopping area combines over 250 shops with civic buildings and leisure facilities. Major retailers include Marks and Spencer, Boots, WH Smith, Woolworths, Next, Waterstones and Tesco.

The Westgate Centre is a covered centre of 110,000 square feet with 35 shops, two busy restaurants and adjacent car parking. The Forum development, opened in late 1997, is a major retail expansion to the north of Stevenage town centre and adds a further 130,000 square feet in ten units, housing JJB Sports, Virgin Megastore, TK Maxx and Ldil.

The town centre has a number of markets with interesting and unusual stalls. The recently renovated covered market is situated beneath the St George's Way car park (to the rear of Woolworths) where there is a wide range of stalls together with cafeteria and refreshment facilities. The colourful outdoor markets take place in the Leisure Centre car parks on Wednesday and Saturday.

The town square has also seen the opening of the new £8.5 million Plaza in the last few years. This is a 55,000 sq. ft. restaurant and leisure complex designed around a central piazza in a modern thirties style and significantly adds to the Stevenage 'offer'. The Plaza is home to JD Wetherspoons, Yates, Subway and other bars and restaurants as well as an impressive LA Fitness health club.

The ASDA Store has been in operation from December 2003 with an extensive retail floorspace of 10,000 sq m and an large carpark. The construction was on the old college site at Monkswood Way and is linked directly to the town centre via significantly enhances walkways.

These proposals has generated significant benefits for the southern part of the town centre, through much increased footfall, and greatly increase the offer for visitors to the town centre.