SHOPPERS have been promised “business as usual” at the Eastgate after its owners fell into administration.

InfraRed UK, the firm which owns the Basildon shopping centre, entered administration on November 22 with the retail sector reeling from the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Andrew Johnson, Ali khaki and Matthew Callaghan of FTI Consulting have been named joint administrators but the shopping centre’s management is adamant the 100-unit centre will remain running with no impact to customers.

“It’s business as usual at Eastgate, with the shopping centre, car park and shops open and continuing to trade,” an Eastgate spokesperson said.

“Joint Administrators have been appointed over the companies that own Eastgate, but this has no operational impact on the day to day running of Eastgate.”

The spokesperson added: “The challenges to UK retail are well known and have been further accentuated by the impact of Covid-19 and the resulting national lockdowns which have ultimately driven this appointment. The Joint Administrators will continue to work with all key stakeholders to ensure the continued running of Eastgate.”

InfraRed purchased the shopping centre from property firm British Land for £88.6 million in 2014.

At the time, the centre boasted many big high street retail names and Christ Huxtable, director of InfraRed, described the centre as “a dominant town centre asset”.

Speaking following the purchase, he said: “The asset has remained resilient throughout the economic downturn, helped by its location and high-quality occupiers.”

However, repeated Covid-19 lockdowns saw many of Eastgate’s high profile brands abandon the centre, with Debenhams, Next, Topshop, Build-A-Bear and H&M all ceasing operations earlier this year.

Andrew Johnson, a senior managing partner at FTI Consulting, and one of the joint administrators, said: “The administration will have no operational impact on Eastgate Shopping Centre which will continue to operate on a business-as-usual basis.

“In addition, the property managers (Munroe K) and asset managers (Sovereign Centros) of the shopping centre will remain in situ ensuring the continues smooth operating of Eastgate going forward.”

Independent Basildon councillor Kerry Smith is confident the shopping centre is attracting enough business to stay afloat during the process.

“There is some money coming in, okay some of the bigger stores such as Debenhams are gone, but they still have the Asda and lots of other small traders, with a busy Christmas period coming up,” the Nethermayne councillor said.

“Once upon a time it was a gold mine, now these things are not doing as well as they once did but I’m hopeful it will keep up and running.”