St Stephen's Hull

St Stephen's shopping centre, Hull opened on 20 September 2007 and today it attracts more than 10 million visitors a year. The shopping centre is a 40-acre (160,000 m2) brownfield site development in the city centre of Kingston upon Hull, England. It cost £200 million to build and was a key development in the resurgence of Hull as the centre of East Yorkshire culture and shopping. It is home to 12.8 acres (52,000 m2) of retail and leisure space and incorporates retail outlets, cafés, bars, fitness club, restaurants, a cinema and an award-winning multi-storey car park. Adjacent to St Stephen’s is the Albermarle Music Centre, Hull Truck Theatre and a hotel.

Its shops include Superdry, Next, USC, H&M, Zara, Build-A-Bear Workshop, Peacocks, TK Maxx, Topshop, Topman, The Body Shop, New Look, Hugh Rice the Jewellers and The Entertainer, and many more, with a large Tesco Extra, located at the rear of the complex being its anchor store and one of the largest in the country. The complex also contains restaurants such as Nando's, Prezzo, Handmade Burger, The Real China, Wok and Go and Starbucks, as well as a REEL cinema.

St Stephen’s was one of most significant and eagerly anticipated regeneration projects in Hull’s modern history, forming part of a 15 year, £2 billion city centre masterplan, which once complete will rejuvenate six geographical areas, including three prime waterfront sites containing a mix of corporate headquarters, restaurants, attractions, boutique hotels, luxury apartments and Hull’s own World Trade Centre. In 2011, the owner of St Stephen’s, British Land, launched its first Community Charter making ten commitments to the local area.

St Stephen’s shopping centre has almost erased its carbon footprint. In July 2011, St Stephen’s succeeded in sending none of its waste to landfill, creating one of the most environmentally friendly businesses in the region. Its newly introduced zero-to-landfill policy means 100 percent of its waste will be recycled or incinerated for energy recovery, with all its non-recyclables being sent to an energy recovery facility site where it is burned and reused for energy. The shopping centre has two electric car charging sockets in its car park; the first charging points to be installed in the East Riding of Yorkshire. In 2011, St Stephen’s was the winner of the British Land CSR awards in the Water Reduction category.

A new transport hub Hull Paragon Interchange has also been built adjacent to St Stephen's, incorporating Hull's renovated Paragon railway station. It incorporates a new bus station, catering and retail units. A new 440 seat theatre has been completed for Hull Truck Theatre as part of the development. Another part of the development is The Albermarle Music Centre, which was built at the expense of £3 million for the Hull Music Service as a centre where its youth orchestras, ensembles and bands can rehearse and practice, as well as being a new venue for other events and concerts.