Staff working for intu Watford will have their jobs secure after the town’s shopping centre was put under new management.

Intu said in a tweet earlier today (October 20) that the team at intu Watford will be migrating to new property management company Savills after Watford’s indoor shopping mall was taken over by Global Mutual as the asset manager.

The takeover secures the future of the shopping centre after intu Properties plc fell into administration in June with huge debts.

In a tweet posted earlier today, intu said: “Today we bid a very fond farewell to the team at intu Watford who today migrate to their new management company.

“We wish everyone good luck for the future, we will miss you.”

A video was also posted with the tweet, showing photos of intu Watford staff working at the shopping centre over several years.

After intu Watford was taken over by Global Mutual, Vicki Costello, centre director for intu Watford, said: "Our centre is a hugely popular destination for visitors from the surrounding area and remains a highly desirable location for brands wanting a flagship physical presence in a high footfall destination.

"Working closely with the central intu team, we have signed a number of major deals in the past few weeks. These include Next, who chose us to open one of the first Next Beauty Halls, Tag Heuer and Primark, with other exciting deals in the pipeline."

Steve Gray, head of European retail asset management at Global Mutual, said: "intu Watford has performed resiliently despite the challenges brought by the coronavirus.

"Footfall is recovering steadily and the team has continued to sign some fantastic new deals with high quality tenants.

"We also have strong support from our creditor group who have committed to inject significant new funds into our four shopping centres, providing the financial stability we need during this period.

"We can look to the future with confidence."