£400m Intu deal “a great investment for Derby”

Business leaders in Derby have welcomed the completion of the £400m sale of the former Westfield shopping centre in the city to Intu.

The 1.3m sq ft Derby mall, which was completed in 2007, said it wants to refocus the retailer mix with aspirational brands to appeal to the more affluent 35-plus shopper.

John Forkin, managing director of Marketing Derby said: "At £400m, this is a great investment which we welcome for Derby. Westfield created the region's largest and busiest shopping centre. We believe that Intu are well positioned to take it forward into its next chapter and we look forward to working with them."

As Westfield sold the mall, it was running at 99 per cent occupancy level.

Nick Hosking, director at Innes England, said: "Whilst there are only a handful of prime shopping centre operators across the UK, fresh investment on this scale into Derby has to be seen as a positive and removes uncertainty.

"Westfield's decision to put the scheme on the market made sense given they're a development company not an institutional landlord but hopefully new ownership will bring a fresh impetus to the scheme and perhaps also unravel some of the issues holding back the former Debenhams department store on Victoria Street, which has blighted that are of the city centre in recent years."

Intu also owns the Broadmarsh and Victoria Centre in Nottingham.

Read this and other related articles on the East Midlands Business Link website.