Council chief confident Oxford Street will be ‘brought back from the dead’

By Owen Sheppard, local democracy reporter

Though wounded by the loss of some of its biggest brands, Oxford Street will evolve and live to fight on as a high street for the world.

So says Melvyn Caplan, the head of regeneration at Westminster Council, which will pour £150 million over the coming years into transforming the streetscape of the Oxford Street “district” – from Marble Arch to Tottenham Court Road.

During the pandemic, conversations with friends and colleagues will have periodically turned to questions of whether working from home is here to stay, and if online shopping really has taken over the old pastime of trekking to the city centre.

And there’s no shortage of armchair pundits, or companies giving up their office space, who would suggest these changes to our lives could be permanent.

“I think people are judging too early,” said cllr Caplan.

“We’re confident with what we’re doing. There is only one Oxford Street in the UK and in the world.

“It’s survived all kinds of things and it will survive again. It will adapt and reinvent which is why we’re investing in what we’re investing.”

Debenhams and Topshop are among the household names that appear to have gone forever from Oxford Street, leaving floor upon floor of empty space.

But cllr Caplan, also the council’s deputy leader, is confident something will fill the voids.

“We have been speaking to the administrators of the TopShop building… what’s interesting is there is actually quite significant demand for all of these buildings,” he said.

“I think you will see buildings in mixed use, with part-retail, part-leisure.

“That is absolutely the case, and that will be happening in many buildings.”

Examples of this could be seen before the pandemic began.

The now-permanently closed Debenhams building in 334 Oxford Street received planning permission from the council for its owner to convert its fourth and fifth floors into offices.

In late 2019, the owners of 318 House of Fraser won permission to convert parts of all seven of its storeys into offices.

John Lewis, at 300, followed suit with plans that were given the green light in October 2020, to turn 45 per cent of its floorspace into offices.

Cllr Caplan suggested more hotels will open, and that residential conversions are unlikely to be used to fill any empty department stores, because “literally yards from it residential already exists and will continue to”.

Unlike before, the councillor believes that more than just shopping will be needed to make sure Londoners and eventually – we all hope – international tourists have a reason to visit.

That will partly be about using the council’s soft power to encourage “big galleries” and “cultural institutions” to relocate to the area, although cllr Caplan shot down the idea of the council leasing department stores to open its own galleries as “uneconomical” due to high rents.

Last week the council unveiled the “Marble Arch Hill” – plans for a 25-metre high temporary landmark that it hopes will raise “nominal” ticket fees from up to 1,500 visitors a day, whilst costing the council “hundreds of thousands” to build.

The council’s bid to lure those institutions, and footfall, to Oxford Street will be about deploying £150 million of capital expenditure over five years into making the 1.2 mile highway, and its side streets, “less hostile and more attractive”.

On the shopping list for that fortune are: “Improving street furniture, providing more pedestrian space, creating pocket parks and putting in  technology in like cameras that measure air pollution, WiFi, and smart lampposts.”

Cllr Caplan talks about creating more greenery, with pocket parks – miniature green spaces – along its side streets “so that it’s nicer for pedestrians on all streets which aren’t all the most inviting places.”

But still, to most people that might feel like a short order for £150 million.

So where is it all going?

“When you put anything up you’ve got to do all the infrastructure and cabling that goes around it. Even if you change a traffic light – all of those have huge amounts of wiring that go into them. All of that digging it up and reinstating, it costs money,” said cllr Caplan.

And then there’s a promise of more footfall from the long-awaited Elizabeth Line due to open – we hope – in 2022.

In the wake of a row with the Mayor of London several years ago, cllr Caplan insists the council will not pedestrianise Oxford Street. “If you talk to many residents they will tell you about the importance of being able to get a bus from one end of the city to the centre. And it’s hugely important that we’re able get taxis and cyclists down there.”

His prediction for the years ahead: “Yes there will be working from home but the numbers will not change substantially down, we don’t believe.

“Tourists are not going to be coming back – international tourists probably for 12 months. But there is only one Oxford Street, only one Bond Street, only one Marble Arch etc.

“Will people stop coming? Well if you’re coming to London you’re coming to Westminster and to this area. Those things will not change.”

He added: “You need to look at history, in terms of the nature of these sorts of things.