Vicinity Centres today announced the appointment of Peter Huddle as Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director following the completion of a global search. Huddle’s appointment is effective on 1 February 2023.
Huddle, who has been Acting Chief Executive Officer for Vicinity since 16 November 2022, joined the Company as Chief Operating Officer in March 2019, reporting to the CEO.
Since joining Vicinity, Huddle has brought his strategic vision and global experience in creating market-leading, retail-led destinations. Importantly, Huddle has been instrumental in building organisational capability and a cohesive, integrated and customer-focused Operations team, comprising Property Management, Leasing, Operations, Development, and Marketing.
The pandemic presented Vicinity with unprecedented complexity, arising from significant regulatory change as well as the practical challenges associated with keeping shopping centres open and safe for customers, retailers, and Vicinity staff. As COO throughout the pandemic, Huddle was instrumental in leading Vicinity’s operational response, and at the same time, ensuring the Company was well-positioned to recover and deliver its long-term growth priorities.
Prior to joining Vicinity, Huddle had a long and distinguished career at Westfield in a variety of leadership roles in Australia, Brazil, and the US. Notably, Huddle had management responsibility for some of the world’s preeminent retail and mixed-use development projects including Westfield World Trade Centre in New York and Century City in Los Angeles.
Following the acquisition of Westfield by Unibail-Rodamco in June 2018, which formed the largest global retail REIT, Huddle was appointed COO of the US business. In this role, Huddle led all real estate activities including Development, Design, Construction, Management, Leasing, and Asset Management. He was also a member of the URW Global Management Board.
Vicinity’s Chairman, Trevor Gerber said, “Peter’s appointment reflects his leadership skills, deep commercial experience, and exemplary track record at Vicinity, and together with the Board, I am delighted the new CEO comes from within the Company.
“In his role as CEO, I am confident that Peter will bring new ideas and fresh thinking to Vicinity, that will further build on existing growth initiatives and at the same time, maintain the Company’s disciplined approach to deployment of capital and preservation of our strong balance sheet and credit ratings.”
On his appointment, Huddle said, “I am honoured to be appointed CEO of Vicinity, given the critical role the Company plays in Australia’s evolving retail sector and the calibre of the team I am now leading.
“I believe Vicinity has the right strategy in place to deliver long-term growth and, under my stewardship, we will have an even greater emphasis on driving a performance culture that is focused on property excellence, customer centricity, and disciplined capital management.
“I am looking forward to helping shape Vicinity’s future as a high-performing, property-led sector leader and ultimately, delivering shared value for our customers, retailers, strategic partners, investors and importantly, the Vicinity team.”
