Happy Birthday To... The Oracle!Reading's shopping centre, The Oracle, is 10 years old today! Happy Birthday!
10 years ago today on September 23rd 1999, The Oracle opened in Reading, it cost £250 million. Since then, more than 200 million people have visited.
This morning, 85 staff who've worked there for the whole decade, will have a special celebratory breakfast.
Customer Service Support Manager Andy Salmon has been at the shopping centre since day one and it's an extra special place because he met his wife there:
"She used to be a CCTV operator in the control room. We met about 8 years ago and have been married for more than 3 years now.
"I used to work shifts at that time and our shifts didn't always coincide and we used to find ourselves passing each other on the motorway on the way to work, which could be a little bit difficult sometimes but it's good."
Centre Manager Steve Belam took charge in 2003 and has been telling Heart that The Oracle has done big things for the town:
"The Oracle was the catalyst for the development that we've seen in Reading for the last 10 years. Reading as a retail centre was ranked 23rd back in 1999 and when Then Oracle opened it moved back up to 10th place."
Over the last decade The Oracle has won more than a dozen awards and was named the best shopping centre in the country in 2007 and fortunately it hasn't suffered too much in the recession:
"You only have to walk round the shopping centre and you don't see empty units, you don't see closed down shops and we're very grateful for that."
In 10 years, The Oracle has raised more than £270, 000 for local charities like Daisy's Dream.
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