This month I was all prepared to write about the need for general and asset managers to seek business experience and marketing acumen. There is a real need for the humble management surveyor to grasp the nettle and drive shopping centres forward. We should be long beyond reactive management, but in a lot of cases I just don't see it in practice.

Since Land Securities bought the galleria in Hatfield in October 2005, the factory outlet centre - located above the M1 motorway in Hertfordshire - has been transformed into a real success story with a marked increase in visitor numbers, dwell time and non-food spend.

The wave of consolidation sweeping the agency business has continued with Jones Lang LaSalle purchase of Churston Heard, the UK’s biggest independent retail consultancy. Churston Heard employs 80 people and offers a full range of retail services including agency, town centre and out-of-town retail; rent reviews; management; investment, development and shopping centre management.

Capital & Regional’s troubled Mall shopping centre fund has bought itself some breathing space with the sale of three of its centres – albeit at a reduced price – and a corporate refinancing which means the fund is no longer in danger of breaching its loan-to-value covenants.

Two years down the line since the last piece of research was carried out, Shopping Centre has again teamed up with the UK's leading destination marketing agency for retail, travel and leisure, Fox Kalamaski, to undertake another survey into the attitudes of people in the shopping centre profession.

When the wraps finally came off Liverpool One a fortnight ago it was immediately clear that Grosvenor and its development team have created an architectural triumph. The scheme has a real sense of place and has created some very attractive spaces in the middle of a busy city centre.

Customers have been flocking to County Square in Ashford, from across the region since ING opened the extension to the Kent scheme in March, almost doubling the size of the existing shopping centre.

Knight Frank has substantially strengthened its retail exposure with the acquisition of specialist retail agency Markham Vaughan Gillingham. MVG’s 12 strong team is currently advising on more than 9.5 million sq ft of shopping centres and has a strong national reputation in retail, out of town and retail warehousing, and factory outlet centres.

Capital & Regional has unveiled plans to raise new equity for its troubled Mall fund, the UK’s biggest owner of community shopping centres. It will offer the unit holders in the fund new units at a deeply discounted price in a bid to raise £286m which would allow it to pay off a bank loan where it was in danger of breaching its loan-to-value covenant.

British Land unveiled better-than-expected results for the year to 31 March 2008, outperforming the IPD benchmark, however the rise in valuation yields hit the company’s £14bn portfolio hard.

The continued slump in shopping centre values is putting owners under pressure, with both Capital & Regional and Capital Shopping Centres having to report gloomy news to shareholders.

Promotion Space Group has confirmed its position as the UK's leading shopping centre commercialisation specialist by acquiring its main competitor, London-based Brandspace. Brandspace CEO Paul Soanes will join the Promotion Space board as group business development director.

With 50 million sq ft of development space due to be delivered by 2012 and with consumer confidence at a 15-year low, the key to success for both developers and retailers could lie in targeting those consumers who are immune to the credit crunch, according to CACI's latest Retail Footprint survey.

Manchester has witnessed one of the UK's biggest city centre transformations in recent years, with an investment in retail, leisure, sport and conference facilities assisting in whizzing the city into the top three spot in the UK for people to visit.

A number of influential analysts have defied the market gloom to predict that retail will turn out to be the top-performing property sector this year.

As part of its continuing growth into the retail sector, King Sturge has bought the Glasgow-based niche retail property specialist Hamilton Glen, which is led by Fiona Hamilton.

The Government's new legislation on Empty Property Rates will drive down commercial property values, will fail to incentivise development and reduce the availability of property in the marketplace, according to a new survey by commercial property consultant Lambert Smith Hampton.

As only the second out-of-town retail mall ever to be built in the country, after Brent Cross, Hempstead Valley shopping centre in Gillingham, Kent, is celebrating its 30th birthday this year.

JJB Sports is to close 72 stores in a radical restructuring of its property portfolio. At the same time 40 of its remaining stores have been earmarked for refitting.

The 300-stong value fashion chain Ethel Austin has been placed in administration, joining the growing list of retail failures as consumer confidence takes a dive. Philip Duffy and David Whitehouse, partners from Menzies Corporate Restructuring, have been appointed joint administrators.

Retail sales turmned downward for the first time in two years in March, according to the latest Retail Sales Monitor from KPMG and the BRC. UK retail sales fell 1.6 per cent on a like-for-like basis during the month. The decline was the worst since July 2005 when cold wet weather hit sales.

As part of its continuing growth into the retail sector, King Sturge has bought the Glasgow-based niche retail property specialist Hamilton Glen, which is led by Fiona Hamilton.

Shopping centre investment activity has slumped 70 per cent year-on-year according to new data from Knight Frank. The agent calculates that just seven shopping centres worth £276.35m changed hands during the first quarter of 2008.

What a way to start a conference. The worst financial crisis for 60 years; America said to be in recession. Cheap oil, cheap food, cheap commodities gone; real inflation in the UK around 9 per cent; and, according to Asda, a drop in consumer disposable income of 3.5 per cent - £5 less a week to spend.

The Facilities Show 2008 provides a networking arena for the retail and shopping centre industry to meet thousands of key representatives within the FM industry.

Matrix Group has taken over management of the Dockside Outlet in Chatham, Kent. The new management aims to inject new impetus into the scheme, which has struggled since opening five years ago.

Out-of-town vacancies have risen sharply over the past year to reach 8.3 per cent of total stock, according to the Definitive Guide to Retail and Leisure Parks 2008, produced by Trevor Wood Associates in conjunction with Savills.

UK investors Boultbee and London & Regional have taken substantial profits on malls in Finland and Russia.

Henderson Global Investors' European Outlet Mall Fund has raised €245m from institutional investors at its third closing, and it has just bought the Factory Outlet in Messancy, Belgium for €12m. The deal brings the fund's total assets under management to around €870m, roughly half way to its target size.

Capital & Regional chief executive Martin Barber has stepped down from the company he co-founded 30 years ago. Amid rumours of a boardroom rift after the share price slumped 70 per cent in just under a year, the company has brought in Hugh Scott-Barrett as Barber’s replacement.

KPMG, the administrator of failed shoe retailer Dolcis, has appointed King Sturge to market 42 stores that are surplus to requirements following last week’s sale of the brand to rival chain Stylo.

Dubai has the unfortunate reputation of being a gas-guzzling and energy-profligate society, the epitome of unsustainable living. Large indigenous oil reserves mean that oil is cheap and energy is worth little. The citizens of Dubai are among those generating the largest amount of waste per head in the world. Despite this, some of the city's major mall owners are considering ways to respond to environmental and sustainability challenges.

Chelmsford has long been known as the shopping 'mecca' of mid-Essex. Currently serving a population that stretches as far out as Brentwood to the south and Braintree to the north, the town has two modern shopping centres at its heart: High Chelmer, which was built in the early 1970s, initially as an open-air scheme, and The Meadows, which opened in 1992 at the south end of the High Street.

The investment slump in the retail warehouse sector could be coming to an end, according to new research from Savills. The firm believes the sector has seen the bulk of its correction in pricing and predicts that prime retail warehouse yields will only soften by approximately 0.25 per cent before they stabilise later in 2008.

Nationwide shoe retailer Dolcis has become the first major retail casualty of the new year after the company, which has 185 stores across the UK, was placed in administration.

Six new directors have been elected to the board of the shopping centre trade body BCSC, filling vacancies that have occurred in the past year.

The influential IPD UK Monthly Index has seen its biggest monthly fall since records began 21 years ago, slumping by 3.7 per cent during the month of December 2007 alone. Capital values fell by 4.2 per cent during the month.

An idea that was developed back in the late 1960s is now operating to its full potential in the centre of Bloomsbury, London.

Capital & Regional has taken another valuation hit on its three UK property funds, underlying the slump in investment values over the past 12 months.

Marks & Spencer has seen its share price slashed by 18 per cent to 410p on the back of disappointing Christmas figures – with like-for-like sales down 2.2 per cent over the 13 weeks to December 29.

Two of the UK's leading shopping centre owners - Land Securities and Lend Lease - have signed new management contracts, reflecting the search for innovation and the wider trend towards consolidation in the facilities management business.

Capital & Regional, manager of the Mall, Junction and X-Leisure retail property funds, has announced that its chief executive Martin Barber is to step down in August 2009 when he reaches the age of 65.

Manchester city centre has benefited from huge investment over recent years with the city consistently appearing in the top three destinations within the UK retail hierarchy.

The term 'facilities management' or FM is widely used and often misused. In simple terms it can best be summarised as providing and maintaining the working environment - or put another way, the total management, delivery and budget-holding for all non-core services.

Shopping centres across the UK are reaping the benefits of transferring to an integrated services provider.

Opened as one of the original Arndale Centres back in 1967, the Crossgates Centre in Leeds will celebrate its 40th birthday on September 21.

Accessibility and customer flow are important considerations for multi-level shopping centres and as such fitting escalators and lifts into new and existing centres can often take a lot of forward thought and planning.

Camille Waxer, head of retail at Canary Wharf Group, has won the prestigious 2007 Harper’s Bazaar & Aquascutum Businesswoman of the Year award. This is the fifth year the awards have taken place and the first time they have been sponsored by British luxury fashion brand Aquascutum.

Land Securities has confirmed to the Stock Exchange that it is conducting a review of its business structure. The announcement came in the wake of press reports that the company has appointed Citi to advise on options that could include a break-up of the business. At the moment Land Securities operates in three markets: retail, offices and the Trillium outsourcing business.

The British Retail Consortium has slammed the government's consultation on empty business rates as a sham.

DTZ’s has completed its purchase of Donaldsons, paying £39.8m up front plus a deferred payment of £8.8m. Of this £20m is in cash and the rest in DTZ shares. By Autumn 2007 the Donaldsons brand will disappear to be absorbed into DTZ.

With an increasing number of houses being built in Glenrothes to cater for the ever-growing population, the town's Kingdom shopping centre, owned by CIS, is keeping up with the times with plans for major expansion works.

Today's technology is delivering much more towards the development of better solutions for facilities managers across a wide range of areas, including security, operational cost efficiency, sustainability and corporate social responsibility.

Meadowhall Shopping Centre remains partially closed almost a week after the catastrophic flooding that hit Sheffield. The upper malls reopened on Monday 2 July after losing six days' trade but other parts of the centre remain closed.

The Dorchester hotel on London's Park Lane was the glittering setting for last night's SCEPTRE Awards, recognising best practice and the best people in the shopping centre industry.

A key High Court judgement has successfully upheld landlords' rights to enforce rental guarantees underwritten by their tenants' parent companies. The electrical retailer Powerhouse had been attempting to walk away from its lease obligations on 35 UK stores but the judgement means it will now be forced to pay rent on the stores, and other retailers will be blocked from exploiting an apparent loophole.

A key High Court judgement has successfully upheld landlords' rights to enforce rental guarantees underwritten by their tenants' parent companies.

At over a million sq ft thecentre:mk in Milton Keynes is one of the UK's biggest shopping centres. Its 230 retail units attract over 30 million visitors per year and that puts real stress on the floors and other finishes. That in turn means cleaning is a top priority and the centre has learned that cleaning is a people business.

Despite being sited close to Birmingham city centre and the enormously successful Bullring, The Fort shopping park continues to pull in the crowds.

As the new code of practice on service charges comes into force, the RICS has launched a new campaign to ensure compliance among its members.

The government has again threatened to legislate to ban upwards-only rent reviews unless landlords voluntarily adopt more flexible leasing terms. Unveiling the new code of practice on commercial leases, Housing and Planning Minister Yvette Cooper warned: "We believe the code should have the chance to work but legislation is an option if it doesn't succeed and we will be monitoring it closely."

Shopping centre owners are becoming more sophisticated in the way they use their footfall figures, according to an expert in the industry.

The government has again threatened to legislate to ban upwards-only rent reviews unless landlords voluntarily adopt more flexible leasing terms. Unveiling the new code of practice on commercial leases, Housing and Planning Minister Yvette Cooper warned: “We believe the code should have the chance to work but legislation is an option if it doesn't succeed and we will be monitor it closely.”

British Land has increased its commitment to the superstore sector with a new £650m joint venture with Tesco. This is the fourth such partnership between the REIT and Britain’s biggest retailer and the two now have over £1.8bn invested in four retail parks, three shopping centres and 34 Tesco stores.

Driving Your Business was the theme for this year's BCSC Management Conference, which focused on ways that centre managers can continue to succeed in a rapidly changing and more demanding environment.

So there are to be two new members of the millionaire's club - that exclusive band of shopping centre managers responsible for properties of over a million sq ft - in the form of Andrew Parkinson who is moving from Touchwood to Bluewater and of Robert Goodman, who is moving from airport operator BAA to take over the reins at thecentre:mk.

West Orchards is one of three covered centres in Coventry city centre. Dating from 1991, the centre provides 206,000 of retail space across three trading levels, anchored by Debenhams, Marks & Spencer and WH Smith.

Lend Lease Retail has appointed Andrew Parkinson as the new general manager of Bluewater in Kent. The move is one of a series of new appointments at the shopping centre specialist.

Five years after opening, Touchwood in Solihull is now a mature centre. The 650,000-sq ft retail and leisure scheme has become well-established in the West Midlands retail scene, and since opening it has pushed the town up from sixth to third in the regional hierarchy.

A client phones to say, "We're selling one of our shopping centres, but don't worry, we complete in three weeks, so you have plenty of time...and by the way, your services may no longer be required!"

Have they fitted a revolving door at Heathrow? One Australian owner, Stockland, is arriving in the UK just as another, Multiplex, looks likely to be taken out.

I was keen to show one of my colleagues the Brunswick Centre in Bloomsbury, the new Allied London mixed-use development, which contains a range of foodservice operations including Carluccio's, Strada and Giraffe, in addition to a Waitrose supermarket and retailers such as Hobbs, Coast and LK Bennett.

While corporate social responsibilty is a relatively new subject to be pushed forward by the BCSC, it is a key issue that has been on the lips of staff at Crystal Peaks for years.

More than 600 shops came back to the market yesterday as the December Quarter Day and tough Christmas trade took its toll. The Greeting Card Group and Music Zone have both gone into administration.