LONDON - Westfield has angered retailers at its new London shopping centre after raising service charges by up to 75 per cent.
Hundreds of thousands of shoppers have streamed through the company's £1.6 billion ($4.2billion) White City mall since it opened last week.
But some of the centre'sretailers say they are preparing to launch a battle against Westfield after being told service fees to cover cleaning and marketing costs will nearly double.
Retailers, including the Arcadia Group and fashion chain New Look, told the Financial Times that Westfield had originally given retailers a guide of about £86 per square metre to cover service fees each year.
However, they claim the shopping mall developer now wants to charge them almost £151 per square metre, which could push the annual cost up to £500,000.
"We will be paying what was originally proposed," New Look's executive chairman Phil Wrigley said.
Westfield said the service fees reflected the centre's "premium offer and service levels".
