City leaders pledge support for struggling retail giant

Published: 26 June 2020

Leaders of Derby’s economic recovery task force have pledged support for shopping centre owner Intu as it looks set to call in administrators.

The retail giant said talks to restructure its lending ended without agreement yesterday (Thursday 25th June). It had already lined up administrators KPMG as a contingency and now says it is likely they will be appointed to steer the business.

The company has been hard hit by the Coronavirus lockdown, with many of its tenants unable to pay their rents.

Derby City Council Leader Councillor Chris Poulter said task force members had been in regular dialogue with Intu’s Derby management team over the past few weeks.

We will now be seeking fresh talks to understand what any move into administration might mean for Derby and to offer help wherever we can. Intu’s Derby centre is, of course, in a different position to many of the rest of the group’s businesses in that it is jointly-owned, with investor Cale Street Investments. It is also worth noting that the Derby centre has very strong management and a good track record of success. We will offer our assistance to help Intu’s local team at this challenging time and to the administrators, if they are appointed, to ensure a strong future for the Derby centre.

Intu runs 17 shopping centres in the UK, including Lakeside in Essex, the Trafford Centre in Manchester and the Victoria and Broadmarsh centres in Nottingham. It also has operations in Spain.

Business, Health