Shopping centre operator intu has confirmed the appointment of administrators KPMG, after warning that it was close to collapse. intu properties owns and operates 17 shopping centres across the UK including intu Trafford Centre and intu Lakeside, in addition to a shopping centre and development site in Spain. 

Jim Tucker, partner at KPMG and joint administrator, said: “intu owns many of the UK’s biggest and best-known shopping centres. The challenges affecting UK retail are well known and have been exacerbated by the impact of COVID-19 and the resulting lockdown. As today’s administration makes clear, those challenges have fed through to owners of retail property, even to owners of high-quality shopping centres such as intu’s.”

All of the shopping centres will remain open and operational while KMPG assess options for the business and assets of the group.