Sainsbury’s has hired Cushman & Wakefield to replace CBRE on its portfolio of 2,000 properties, as the business integrates Home Retail Group and mulls a significant downsizing.
The estates management contract will begin in November.
The integration of the two businesses creates a portfolio of more than 2,000 stores and operational properties, all of which will be brought under the new contract.
A report in the Sunday Telegraph yesterday suggested the retailer was planning on making up to 1,000 redundancies, after appointing management consultant McKinsey to help it save £500m in costs.
The new portfolio mandate will be managed by Cushman &Wakefield’s Global Occupier Services business under the account leadership of Peter Hulme, who heads the occupier management service line in EMEA.
In March, Sainsbury’s announced it was slashing 400 jobs, with a further 4,000 employees facing major changes to their working hours as part of a shake-up of night shift work at 140 stores.
CBRE won a contract to take over the management of Sainsbury’s UK real estate in July 2010.
A spokesperson for Sainsbury’s said: “Following a review we have appointed Cushman & Wakefield to support our estates management team.”
With regard to job losses, they said: “We do not comment on speculation and would always make any announcement around jobs to our colleagues first.”
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