John Lewis appoints Mace for Oxford fit-out

Mace has been appointed by John Lewis to deliver the fit-out of its new Oxford store. The three-story shop covers over 140,000 sq ft and will open in October as part of the redeveloped Westgate Shopping Centre in Oxford City Centre. 

John Lewis has invested more than £18m in the new site, one of three that it plans to open over the next 18 months. Once open, the shop will employ over 300 John Lewis partners and will be the anchor store for the wider £440m redevelopment of the Westgate Shopping Centre. 

Mace started working on site to deliver the new store in April, and will hand the project back to John Lewis in September for an October opening. The scheme will achieve a BREEAM rating of Excellent. 

The appointment follows the successful completion of John Lewis’ new site in Leeds, which was undertaken by Mace and opened in October 2016.

Tony Jacob, Head of Construction, Environment and Engineering for John Lewis, said: “Oxford is an important strategic location for us and we were clear from the beginning of this project that we needed to appoint a contractor who we knew could deliver to our high standards. 

“Working with Mace on the fit-out of our shop in Leeds last year showed us their commitment to quality without compromising on budget or speed of delivery. They were the natural choice for this job, and we look forward to working closely with them as we get our new site ready for its grand opening.”

Regional Director for Mace, Neil Hennessey, said: “This will be our second project for John Lewis in less than 12 months, and we’re obviously thrilled to be building a long term relationship with such a prestigious British retailer. We’ve developed a reputation for delivering industry-leading retail projects and we will be drawing on this expertise to deliver another outstanding store for John Lewis.”