An MP has pledged to keep a Lake District shopping centre open after its owner went into administration. A buyer is now being sought for the Westmorland Shopping Centre in Kendal.
Ethel Austin Properties (Kendal) — which also owns the town’s indoor market — collapsed in late March throwing the future of the centre’s 33 shops and dozens of stall holders into doubt. The Westmorland’s two full-time managers have been retained to allow the businesses to continue trading and the site sold as a going concern.
Sarah Rayment and Kerry Bailey, partners at Manchester-based restructuring specialists, BDO, have been appointed joint administrators. “Kendal residents will be able to shop as normal and no jobs have been lost as a result of the administration,” Rayment said in a statement. “The joint administrators are keeping the shopping centre open while a new owner is found.”
Completed in 1988, Westmorland Shopping Centre is the only covered shopping mall in the southern half of the Lake District and attracts more than four-million shoppers each year. Its 81,000 sq ft of retail space is spread across three floors and reportedly raises more than £1m a year in rent. The centre’s tenants range from a number of high street brands to local food outlets and traders.
Little is known about Ethel Austin Properties (Kendal), which acquired the complex in the early 2000s. The latest accounts filed by the company in March, 2014, claimed it held £839,063 in cash and had assets of £2.2m. Its liabilities totalled £814,864, giving it a net worth of minus-£6.1m.
Westmorland and Lonsdale MP, Tim Farron (pictured), has said he will do everything he can to keep the shopping centre open until a new owner is found. “I am keen to work with the administrators and the staff to ensure its success in the future,” he added.
“Meanwhile, it is vital to say that the centre, indoor market and all its associated outlets remain open. I am confident that a purchaser can be found for the centre which is at the heart of Kendal’s high street.”
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