Trafford cancels THG’s £67.5m Airport City loan 

The authority’s eight-figure facility for the construction of the e-commerce giant’s planned 1m sq ft campus in Manchester has been pulled. 

THG took out the £67.5m loan in 2019 but has not drawn down any of the cash. 

“The debt facility, originally agreed for the purpose of funding the construction of new office accommodation, has now matured without any drawdowns for the main facility, and so has been removed from commitments,” according to a Trafford Council report. 

Despite the lack of drawdowns, the facility has provided a revenue return to Trafford Council of £2.8m since its agreement from commitment fees, the council said. 

Manchester City Council granted THG approval for the Airport City project in 2018 but work has not started on site. 

The company had been in talks to appoint Bowmer + Kirkland and Goldbeck to deliver the first phase of the scheme, a 288,000 sq ft office and 1,400-space multi-storey car park, but no contracts have been signed.

The future of the scheme has been in doubt for several years given the lack of progress and the health of THG since it went public in 2020. 

Place North West’s Subplot reported in October that the Airport City project had been shelved. 

The THG campus, designed by BDP, forms part of the wider £1bn Airport City masterplan, which once complete, could provide 5m sq ft of commercial space.   

At the time of writing, THG’s share price was 61.50p, down from a high of 796p in January 2021. 

The company recorded a record £2.25bn in sales for the 2022 financial year but today [Tuesday 17 January] told shareholders that profits would be between £70m to £80m, down on predictions made in October.

Chief executive Matthew Moulding said: “In a year that presented numerous challenges across the world, I’m proud that the THG team has delivered another record revenue performance.

“With the completion of the divisional reorganisation, and around £100m of annual efficiency savings already delivered, the Group enters 2023 with strong momentum to achieve substantial margin expansion.”