THE dramatic collapse into administration today of the retail property group intu Properties which owes the Lakeside Regional Shopping centre has caused anxiety to thousands of local workers – many of who have only just gone back to work because of the coronavirus lockdown.

Just after 3pm today (Friday, 26 June), intu confirmed earlier speculation that it had appointed KPMG LLP as administrators and that with immediate effect trading in shares of the company – which had collapsed from a recent high of £2 a share to 2p!

However, for the moment the company's shopping centres will continue to trade.

A statement subsequent to the administration announcement added: "Underlying group operating companies remain unaffected and all shopping centres are continuing to trade. The intu Group's relationships with its tenants are with these operating companies, not the companies entering administration."

Administration day has been coming for some times as intu fought what looked an increasingly unwinnable battle to refinance in the face of debts that total more than debts of more than £4.5bn.

Intu, which last night received Thurrock Council planning approval for a multi-million pound extension of Lakeside, has been unable to persuade lenders to grant a debt repayment holiday ahead of a deadline this evening.

Intu's chief executive, Matthew Roberts, had faced a herculean task in trying to persuade the multitude of banks and bondholders the company owes money to agree to pause repayments.This morning he announced that the attempt to secure some breathing space for the company had been unsuccessful – which in turn led to this afternoon's announcement.