Intu cuts some HQ roles as complex administration process continues

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jul 17, 2020

Failed malls giant Intu has reportedly made a number of redundancies at its HQ and at one of its key properties following its collapse into administration last month.

The London head office has seen a cut of 46 roles and 15 jobs have been axed at the Broadmarsh centre in Nottingham. The latter move came after the Intu property subsidiary that owned it entered compulsory liquidation.

The news was reported by Retail Week and comes after Intu CEO Matthew Roberts stepped down from his role a fortnight ago. He had been trying to renegotiate the firm’s debt terms with its lenders, but was frustrated in that aim by the overall conditions caused by the coronavirus crisis.

It’s unclear whether any more jobs will be cut out of the 370 head office roles Intu had at the beginning of this month.

The company is currently in the hands of administrator KPMG and is restructuring its operations, although its shopping centres remain open.

The Intu administration is a complex one with the ownership structure of its 17 malls being far from simple. The malls, which include big names such as Lakeside in Essex and The Trafford centre in Manchester, are held in subsidiary property companies. Various lenders have loaned the firm money with different malls being used as security in each case.

There has been speculation that Intu might need to sell some of its centres. It has also been suggested that lender unwillingness to agree to the terms it was proposing pre-administration was because they thought they could get their money back via individual mall sales.

For instance, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) was the main creditor that held out and it reportedly wants to sell The Trafford Centre, which is seen as the firm’s most valuable property.

Should Intu be forced to sell some of its properties, there’s also speculation that the parent business could go into liquidation.