Retail recovery scuppered after Shopping Centre owners Intu Group forced into Admininstration

Some of Britain’s biggest shopping centres face closure, threatening to pull down the shutters on a retail recovery for the UK.

The closure of the Intu group, owner of 14 centres across the UK – including Lakeside in Essex and the Trafford Centre in Manchester, puts more than 100,000 jobs in jeopardy. Debts of over €5 Billion were blamed for the collapse with creditors not willing to extend mortgage repayments.

PM Boris Johnson responded to the news by promising support for retailers, when asked if he would intervene, he said: ‘Shopping malls have been feeling the squeeze and we will do everything we can to look after them.’

There are even concerns that some or all Intu shopping centres may have to shut, at least temporarily, while administrators attempt to find buyers, that is considered as being a disastrous move for the industry only just clawing its way out of months of languish.

Some of its more famous sites are likely to be sold, while others could be lost forever, speculate industry insiders.

This would be a disaster for thousands of families and many local economies, as an example, a retail centre in Watford employs 10 per cent of the area’s entire local workforce.