// Intu footfall rises across its 13 shopping centres
// At least 85 per cent of the retailers at its centres are now open
Intu has witnessed a rise in footfall across its 13 centres in the UK, since non-essential retail stores began reopening on June 15.
Average footfall rose by seven per cent between July 24 and 31, compared with the previous week.
At least 85 per cent of the retailers at its centres are now open, including 68 per cent of food and beverage and leisure brands.
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Despite this, the property giant said there have been some regional variations with Scotland, which saw a positive rebound.
Footfall at Intu Braehead is currently at 92 per cent of 2019’s levels and Intu Watford is at 60 per cent.
Intu fell into administration back in June after failing to secure an agreement with its creditors.
However, it said its centres will continue to trade as normal.
“A shopping centre environment, by its nature of being a private space, can be more closely managed and the visitor experience adjusted carefully,” KPMG joint administrator Jim Tucker said.
“Safety measures can be put in place to control the number of people in a location at any one time, managing the flow of people ensuring social distancing guidelines can be adhered to, and making sure that face coverings are worn throughout,” he said.
“This level of control over a shopping environment creates a place where visitors and brands can interact with some peace of mind, something that cannot always be achieved in an open, unmanaged space.
“And from the data, we can see that that this peace of mind is encouraging more people back, more quickly.”
Last month, Intu made redundancies at both its London head office and one of its subsidiary property companies after collapsing into administration.
The shopping centre owner cut 46 roles from its group head offices in London, as well as a further 15 jobs at its Broadmarsh centre in Nottingham.
KPMG said that at the time of the administration that there were approximately 370 people working at Intu’s head office.
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