Intu makes employability and autism-friendly commitments
Shopping centre operator Intu has pledged to create a national retail employability programme and make all its centres more autism friendly.
The commitments are included within Intu’s new 2015 Corporate Responsibility Report which also highlights achievements from last year. These include starting work on the rollout of Intu’s Retail Gold employability scheme to its 15 centres nationwide, the creation of the UK’s first autism-friendly shopping centre at Intu Trafford Centre, and a 13% reduction in Intu’s carbon emissions.
Intu said it supported 121,000 jobs in 2015 and contributed £4.2 billion in Gross Value Added to the economy in 2015, up from £3.5 billion in 2014.
Alexander Nicoll, corporate responsibility director at Intu, said: “With two thirds of the UK’s population living within easy distance of an Intu centre, we take our role in building social togetherness and tackling local issues in the communities that we serve seriously. This includes providing more support to help local people secure job skills and work experience, improving green spaces within our communities and making sure that our centres are accessible to all and adapting to our customers’ changing needs.”
Intu is now rolling out its Retail Gold employability scheme to all Intu branded centres following the ongoing success of the scheme at Intu Metrocentre in Gateshead and Intu Eldon Square in Newcastle where 350 people have been helped into employment.
It also plans to make all Intu centres autism-friendly by 2018.
