From the shoe shop to centre manager

F YOU cut Tom Nathan in half, you’d probably find the words “Brent Cross” running through him, like the writing in a stick of rock. General manager since 2001, he started working at the centre when it opened, in the Peter Lord shoe store. His mother worked in Marks and Spencer and his brother in John Lewis.

“My whole family has been involved,” he says. “Brent Cross launched my career in retail and I am forever grateful for the work ethic and ambition it gave me.” Since the opening of Brent Cross, there have been other, bigger, shopping malls. But Brent Cross is about to catch up as, from the end of next year, building will begin on expanding the centre, turning it into what Tom calls “the finest shopping centre in the UK, if not Europe”.

He says that customers buy things in a different way now that online shopping is so popular — they either do research online and then buy in-store, or look in the stores and buy the goods online. This type of “multi-channel” purchasing means that retailers need not only large showrooms but excellent websites too.

The centre’s expanding “click and collect” service means that buyers will be able to purchase online, then collect the goods at the centre and perhaps enjoy a meal or film while they are there.

“We will have more shops, and bigger shops — nearer 50,000 sq ft than 10,000. Major growth will be on food, dining and also on leisure.”

“Everyone has their own view of Brent Cross but many people say, ‘My mother or grandmother brought me here as a child,’ so there is a family association. So many people grew up at Brent Cross — it was the first place they were allowed to be by themselves. It was the moment when people grew up, it was one of those key things. Older people will remember the time before Brent Cross was built and they were involved in something that was making history.”