The London 2012 Games gave Westfield “unprecedented exposure to a global audience” with 5.5 million people visiting the group’s Stratford City centre during the Olympics. The Australian property giant has suggested it is one of the biggest retail winners of the event, with strong footfall figures over the last two weeks meaning the group will now be on target to attract 60 million shoppers in total to its London centres this year who are forecast to spend £1.8 billion.

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A panoramic view of Bluewater Shopping Centre

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Gatwick airport’s departure lounge will play host to the UK’s first virtual supermarket as Tesco hopes to cash in on bored Brits waiting to board their flights. Tesco, the UK’s largest retailer, has set up 10 screens in the lounge, with images of its most popular products.

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British Land has acquired a 50 per cent stake in Eden Walk Shopping Centre in South West London’s affluent Kingston-upon-Thames. The property developer spent £41.5 million on the purchase from Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), reflecting a net yield of 5.35 per cent. Anchored by Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury’s, Boots and BHS, Eden Walk houses 22 shop units across 276,000 sq ft, along with three offices and a 697 multi-storey car park.

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The Australian retail property giant has reiterated its confidence in the UK, as it looks to spend an extra £3 billion upgrading and expanding its British portfolio. Westfield co-chief executive Steven Lowy told The Australian newspaper the investment was set to be directed towards upgrading the Broadway centre in Bradford and expanding its Westfield London centre in Shepherds Bush.

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Scottish shop sales rose by 1.2 per cent in June compared to figures a year before, although according to the figures released by the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) like-for-like sales showed no sign of growth. According to the BBC, it’s the 15th consecutive month that Scottish sales growth had fallen behind the UK as a whole, although the discrepancy had narrowed for June.

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Iceland Foods will have another go at launching an ecommerce site, as shoppers increasingly swap bricks and mortar supermarkets for virtual baskets. As with Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose, whose internet shopping operations have taken on many guises over the years, this isn’t the first time Iceland have launched an ecommerce strategy.

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Westfield Group this week announced it has raised £450 million with issuance of a 10-year sterling bond. The Australian retail property group operates one of the world's largest shopping centre portfolios, and is expected to use the money to repay borrowings under the Group’s revolving bank loan facilities, as well as fund new investments.

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The Britain's largest shopping centre is preparing for a bumper day of celebrations on Wednesday 4th July, Independents’ Day. With 24 hours dedicated to supporting local independent retailers and specialist shops, Metrocentre will offer special discounts to shoppers visiting its independent stores.

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Shares in Ocado fell 12 per cent on Tuesday morning after the online grocer said it missed out from a Jubilee sales boost, and admitted there was “uncertainty” about the impact of the Olympics. The high-end supermarket group, which delivers a mix of Waitrose and its own products to customers in the UK, said orders fell ahead of the Jubilee, which wasn’t helped by the nature of its delivery slot timings which meant customers could not use the retailer for last minute food purchases.

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