The new organisation is a new and dedicated voice for the European retail property sector.
The European Council of Shopping Places (ECSP) was created following the decision by the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) in autumn of 2019 to cease its European activities. The ECSP provides a European voice for an industry that designs, creates, funds, develops, builds and manages places anchored by retail across Europe.
ECSP has 15 members at the moment of its launch. Its founding members currently include some of Europe’s largest retail property development companies and investors such as ECE, SES Spar European Shopping Centers, Sonae Sierra, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Wilhelm & Co as well as the Italian Council of Shopping Centres (CNCC Italia). Furthermore, several other National Councils of Shopping Centres/Places have also already joined as members, including: the Austrian Council of Shopping Places (ACSP), the Belgian and Luxembourg Council of Retail and Shopping Centers (BLSC), the French Council of Shopping Centres (CNCC), the German Council of Shopping Places, and the Portuguese Council of Shopping Centers (APCC).
Joost Koomen, Secretary General, added: “The priority for our members so far this year has been to protect their teams and to work with their tenants during these very difficult times. However, as the pandemic has endured, the need for us to address the most pressing and imminent challenges currently being faced by our sector has become ever more acute. ESCP will work with our members, national associations, the European institutions, national governments and local authorities to promote and protect the sector.”
