INTU.L Regulatory News (INTU)

14 June 2018

intu

Leasing update: retailer investment in intu's prime destinations continues

Hotel Chocolat, Mitsubishi, The Florist and House are the latest brands to announce new leases with intu, as the owner, manager and developer of the UK's most popular retail destinations continues the positive momentum in lettings following its trading update in April.

New leasing activity

Luxury British chocolatier and cocoa grower, Hotel Chocolat, is opening a 1,797 sq ft café store at intu Derby. The retailer already has eight stores across intu's portfolio of prime retail and leisure destinations, including intu Lakeside and intu Trafford Centre.

Mitsubishi Motors has signed up with intu to open its first-ever retail store at intu Lakeside. The new store concept, designed by London-based creative agency Dalziel & Pow, will feature the retailer's latest vehicles, including the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, and will include interactive digital displays that invite customers to discover more about the brand and its model range.

Work is currently underway on a 175,000 sq ft leisure development at intu Lakeside, which will include brands such as Flip Out, Puttshack, Nickelodeon and Hollywood Bowl. The new development will be the first retail resort concept for the South East and will bring in customers from further and for longer while helping all retailers flourish.

New World Trading Company (NWTC) has chosen to open its latest venture, The Florist, at intu Watford with a 9,030 sq ft unit. The new signing will complement the £180 million refurbishment and extension project at the centre. The Florist offers deli, rotisserie and grills. The development project at intu Watford will create an enlarged 1.4 million sq ft retail and leisure destination when it opens later this year, and will also include a 9-screen IMAX cinema, Hollywood bowl and 11 new restaurants.

Over two thirds of the retail and leisure extension at intu Watford is now let. The development is transforming the retail and leisure landscape in Watford, and is set to elevate the town alongside Edinburgh and Bristol in CACI's top 20 national retail destinations ranking.

Australian retailer, House, opens its sixth UK store at intu Chapelfield as it works with intu to expand across the country. House's 2,441 sq ft store will sit alongside other international retailers like Hollister, Smiggle and Timberland. Accessories brand Skinny Dip also opened one of its first bricks-and-mortar stores there last year.

David Fischel, intu chief executive, commented:

"Retailers continue to gravitate towards our prime, high footfall destinations that together are visited by over half the UK's population every year. We are seeing the continuation of two key trends: great new brands making intu centres their first port of call as they expand their physical presence, and established retailers upsizing their units to create flagship locations that form a centrepiece of their multichannel strategy."

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NOTES FOR EDITORS

intu owns and manages some of the best shopping centres, in some of the strongest locations, in the UK and Spain.

Our UK portfolio is made up of 17 centres, including ten of the top 25, and in Spain we own three of the country's top 10 centres, with advanced plans to build a fourth.

We are passionate about creating compelling experiences, in centre and online, that make our customers smile and help our retailers flourish.

We attract over 400 million customer visits and 26 million website visits a year offering a multichannel approach that truly supports retail strategies. In 2017, we launched the UK's first tailor-made promotional services model to help brands as they look to optimise their portfolio or expand their UK coverage.

Our strategic focus on prime, high-footfall flagship destinations, combined with the strength and popularity of our brand, means that intu offers enhanced footfall, dwell time and loyalty. This helps our retailers flourish, driving occupancy and income growth.

We are committed to our local communities, with our centres supporting over 120,000 jobs (representing about 3 per cent of the total UK retail workforce), and to operating with environmental responsibility. We have already met or exceeded a significant number of our 2020 environmental targets.