Hammerson leaves office, is off to the shopping centre

Property firm Hammerson caught the market on the hop with its decision to sell off all its office developments to focus on its retail assets, but with the employment situation looking bleak the market was quick to applaud the decision.

Property firm Hammerson caught the market on the hop with its decision to sell off all its office developments to focus on its retail assets, but with the employment situation looking bleak the market was quick to applaud the decision.

The stock was the best performing blue-chip in early trading on Friday despite a slump in pre-tax profits to £346.3m in 2011 from £620.2m in 2010, as investors bought into management's change of strategy.

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