City Centre update: John Lewis effect already kicking in

The first two days trading for John Lewis have been a spectacular success - both for store and City Centre. There were some challenges for the Store Management team during Friday afternoon - which temporarily closed the cafe and lower ground floor - but the team dealt with opening day glitches quickly and the Store was quickly fully open for business again. Saturday has seen large numbers of shoppers streaming in to the store and City Centre again.

The enthusiasm of shoppers and visitors has been palpable and I'm particularly pleased that the City Centre as a whole has been significantly busier than normal. We predicted that John Lewis would bring benefits for retailers across the City Centre - small and large - and it's great that days one and two have shown that prediction to be spot-on. Shops, cafes and restaurants have been reporting business to be brisker than normal over the last two days and I'd expect that to continue.

I'm also delighted that - to date - traffic has been flowing smoothly, car parks have coped and shoppers have listened to the messages that they should use public transport wherever possible.

There were those who predicted that John Lewis would hoover up all the business to the detriment of other retailers and that the opening of the store would mean City Centre gridlock. Neither of these predictions have borne fruit and neither will. The reality is that already there's a massive boost being delivered for the City Centre as a whole and that we have the best possible launch-pad for the forthcoming Christmas shopping period.

John Lewis marks a key milestone in the city's development and we should take a moment to celebrate what is a dynamic City Centre that's really going places.