Bluewater owner Landsec in exec reshuffle to support growth plans

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Dec 9, 2020

There's a major restructure at Landsec. The commercial property owner and developer has made executive leadership team changes to support its new strategic growth plans.

Heading the reshuffle will be Colette O'Shea who assumes the newly created role of chief operating officer.

In addition, Bruce Findlay is appointed managing director of Retail, effective immediately. He joins from Italian luxury accessories retailer Furla where he was chief commercial officer.

In a further new appointment to the business, Chris Hogwood becomes managing director, Corporate Affairs. He joins from Portland, effective February.

A newly restructured team will lead the delivery of Landsec's new wider strategy, announced in October, to position the company for long-term growth. That includes key focuses on retail, on London, and on giant regional malls.

CEO Mark Allan said when the plans were first announced: “Retail is facing clear structural challenges as a result of the emergence of online shopping, and these have been accelerated by Covid-19, [but] not all retail is the same.

“Regional shopping centres have been most impacted by these challenges, but these represent only 13% of our portfolio and our shopping centres are amongst the very best in the sector. Of the balance, our outlets remain an attractive sub-sector, many of our suburban shopping centres offer significant repurposing potential and our investment in retail parks is modest”.

Landsec's overall plan therefore includes selling off assets with limited growth potential, including retail parks while “reimagining” its remaining retail business.

In the update, Allan said: "With a clear framework in place, this leadership team brings together exceptional individuals with deep, relevant skills and experience that will help deliver our strategic priorities”.