John Whittaker steps downs as Intu chairman

John Whittaker has reportedly stepped down from his role as chairman of embattled shopping centre owner Intu.

According to Property Week, Whittaker resigned from his role as chairman and non-executive director on 26 June – the same day Intu entered administration.

It also reported that Whittaker had not attended an Intu board meeting for the previous three months.

Intu officially called in administrators at the end of June, after weeks of speculation that the group was on the brink of collapse.

The retail property giant issued a statement stating that it was “likely” that the group would appoint administrators, after admitting that it had so far failed in reaching standstill agreements with landlords.

Further to its earlier announcement, Intu then confirmed that James Robert Tucker, Michael Robert Pink and David John Pike of KPMG are to be appointed as joint administrators for the group.

Currently its shopping centres are continuing to trade under KPMG, with operating companies “remaining unaffected”.