The owner of Cabot Circus in Bristol has said it has seen an “encouraging” rise in footfall at its shopping centres across the 海角视频 following the easing of lockdown restrictions.
In the week that saw the reopening of non essential retail stores, landlord Hammerson said the number of visitors to its sites across the 海角视频, including the Bullring in Birmingham and London’s Brent Cross, was more than 50% up on the total for the equivalent week following the first national lockdown.
The firm's managing director for 海角视频 and Ireland Mark Bourgeois attributed the rise to people feeling safer due to the Covid-19 vaccination rollout and had more confidence to spend increased savings.
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Mr Bourgeois told the BBC’s Today programme: "It's been a really encouraging start. After an incredibly difficult year our teams have worked really impressively to get these places to be safe and welcoming for our brands and customers.
"In footfall terms we've been 60% up this week on the equivalent week after the June lockdown so clearly an encouraging number."
Mr Bourgeois added: "People just love to get out. You can only do so much online shopping, people want to get out and feel the products and brands in real life."
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During the interview Mr Bourgeois also revealed that Hammerson could reduce its rents to retail tenants by around 30% to help the recovery from a "challenging" year of lockdowns.
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Mr Bourgeois said Hammerson had collected about 75% of rents owed by its tenants during the whole of last year and agreed abatements with stores who required it.
Mr Bourgeois said: "We reckon across the board and our business we'll probably reduce rents from their peak by about 30% so we are really doing our bit, as are all landlords, to make sure we maintain occupancy, maintain vibrancy in these centres.”
Last month the property giant wrote down the value of its shopping centres and stores by nearly £2billion, as Covid-19 saw rental income suffer the biggest fall in the company’s history.
On Monday Hammerson confirmed it is in talks with Canadian private equity firm Brookfield over a possible deal to sell its seven 海角视频 retail parks in Falkirk, Didcot, Middlesbrough, St Helens, Telford, Merthyr Tydfil and Rugby.