New Landsec CEO takes up post on May 1

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Feb 4, 2020

Landsec, the UK landlord behind key malls such as Bluewater in Kent, Westgate in Oxford, and Trinity Leeds, on Tuesday announced that Mark Allan will start as its CEO and a director on May 1.

His appointment had been originally announced in November but with no specific start date given at the time.

The company had started a CEO search after current incumbent Robert Noel said last summer that he was planning to step down. And it’s now been confirmed that he’ll quit as CEO and as a director on March 31.

That won’t leave Landsec rudderless in the intervening month with finance chief Martin Greenslade stepping up as acting CEO until Allan arrives.

Allan joins at a difficult time for the UK property sector with retail under pressure as Brexit-induced consumer caution and the shift to online has devastated physical retail. 

Landsec hasn’t been immune to this. Last November when it released its half-year results, it reported a slight increase in revenues, but it swung to a pre-tax loss from a profit the year before and the overall value of its properties dipped in the period.

But more recently it has announced a raft of big-name signings and although its overall footfall has dropped, the company’s prestige malls are still attracting a higher footfall level than the national average at present.