Blackstone man takes helm at C&R
Lawrence Hutchings, managing director for Blackstone Australia, is joining Capital & Regional as chief executive.
Having spent almost five years with the private equity giant Down Under, he is returning to the UK, where he previously held senior roles at Hammerson and Henderson Global Investors.
Hugh Scott-Barrett is stepping down as C&R’s chief executive after nine years and will take up the role of non-executive chairman. Current chairman John Clare is leaving the business after seven years. All changes will become effective on 13 June.
[caption id="attachment_797246" align="alignright" width="200"] Lawrence Hutchings[/caption]
Lawrence Hutchings, managing director for Blackstone Australia, is joining Capital & Regional as chief executive.
Having spent almost five years with the private equity giant Down Under, he is returning to the UK, where he previously held senior roles at Hammerson and Henderson Global Investors.
Hugh Scott-Barrett is stepping down as C&R’s chief executive after nine years and will take up the role of non-executive chairman. Current chairman John Clare is leaving the business after seven years. All changes will become effective on 13 June.
“If I look at the business today compared with the 12 years I was in the UK, it is a far more focused business and it is far more focused on convenience-based shopping centres, which we know, from the structural changes happening in retail, is one of the most insulated [sectors]. It also has a strong focus on London, where the bulk of economic growth is happening,” Hutchings said.
Pointing to companies such as Stockland in Australia and Brixmor in the US, Hutchings said that the company’s focus on convenience retailing would help protect it from structural and technological advances. “I don’t believe we will live in a world where we wake up and there are no more shops,” he said.
The changes at the top of Capital & Regional are the latest in a series of major corporate announcements. Last October executive director Mark Bourgeois departed the firm to join Hammerson as UK managing director, with former Unibail-Rodamco chief executive Guillaume Poitrinal joining as a non-executive. Last month the company struck a long-anticipated £372.5m refinancing of five of its centres.
To listen to an interview with Hutchings,
go to www.estatesgazette.podbean.com
• To send feedback, e-mail samantha.mcclary@estatesgazette.com or tweet @samanthamcclary or @estatesgazette
