The Galleria, Hatfield

The Galleria is a designer outlet centre in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England.HistoryThe centre developed in the 1980s as part of a plan to reduce congestion in Hatfield while increasing retail space. The A1(M), a bypass of the old Great North Road from London, was built as a cut and cover tunnel, with The Galleria on top.It was a project of Gerald Carroll's Carroll Group and was budgeted at £50 million but cost £90 million by the time it was finished 18 months late. Carroll refinanced the project and injected £30 million. It opened in 1991 but bankers Samuel Montagu placed the scheme in receivership in 1992. Afterwards, records were found showing the purchase of bugging equipment and the employment of private detectives to watch the bankers involved.The centre was converted to an outlet-led centre in 1996. Land Securities acquired the centre from Galleria Jersey Ltd in 2005 and took full control of the asset management of the centre in September 2006.FeaturesThe centre occupies 29,800 sq m of space. There are more than 80 designer outlets trading at The Galleria including brands such as French Connection, Jaeger, Ghost, Marks & Spencer, GANT and TK Maxx. In addition, other leading brands include, The Body Shop and Waterstone’s.