GRAHAM HISCOTT Retail parks in £1bn wipe-out Hammerson to flog 13 sites

ONE of Britain’s biggest shopping centre owners has put all its out-of-town retail parks up for sale.

Hammerson is aiming to sell 13 sites as part of a wider shake-up caused by the crisis facing many big-name chain stores.

The company yesterday slashed the value of its retail parks by £45million to just over £1.1billion after reporting halfyear profits dived 80% to £55.8million.

The sell-off comes after years of outof-town shopping hubs being blamed for fuelling the decline of many of the country’s high streets.

The Daily Mirror is championing the revival of town centres through our High Street Fightback campaign – demanding more Government help for businesses and retailers.

The 13 locations Hammerson wants to sell include Elliott’s Field Shopping Park in Rugby, Ravenhead in St Helens, Merseyside, Parc Tawe in Swansea and Abbotsinch in Paisley Carmaker Vauxhall has reversed nearly 20 years of losses – but only after slashing hundreds of jobs.

The combined Opel Vauxhall business made a £448million profit in the first six months of this year.

The swing out of the red came after the business was sold by General Motors to France’s PSA

Group, which owns

Peugeot and Citroen.

Since the deal, 650 near Glasgow. The sites’ tenants include B&Q stores, Hammerson’s single biggest customer. Other major tenants are Debenhams, Marks & Spencer and Dixons Carphone, which are all closing stores.

Hammerson, which owns a £10bn property empire, is concentrating on “flagship retail destinations” such as Birmingham’s Bullring and London’s Brent Cross, plus “premium outlets” which include the Bicester Village designer outlet in Oxfordshire. It is also cutting the amount of space given to department stores by a quarter, and to high street fashion chains by a fifth. Instead, it is targeting chains selling “aspirational fashion” and leisure. Hammerson boss David Atkins said the changes marked a “step change in our retailer line-up”. The overhaul follows criticism since the firm abandoned a £3.4bn buyout of Intu, the owner of Manchester’s Trafford Centre, in April, and it rejected a £5bn takeover offer from French rival Klepierre.

In a bid to appease investors, Hammerson yesterday confirmed it was handing back £300m to shareholders.

jobs have been shed at Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port factory, which makes the Astra, pictured.

Group sales at PSA totalled £34.4billion from January to June, while profits rose from £1.7bn to £2bn. The firm still employs around 1,100 staff at Ellesmere Port and 1,276 at Vauxhall’s van plant in Luton which produces the Vivaro.

An investigation launched yesterday was claim are what businesses into Payment card fees. The rip-off conducting a is Systems Regulator card acquiring review of so-called by include fees paid services. These to accept card and other firms retailers...