Britain's biggest shopping centre-owner has put administrators on standby, according to Sky News.

Sky says it has learnt that intu Properties, which operates 17 shopping centres in the UK including intu Watford, is lining up KPMG, which has a Watford office, to handle an insolvency process.

This could happen if lenders do not give the company breathing space to pay back its debts.

The company has around £4.5 billion of debt, according to Sky, and in May managed to secure debt waivers until June 26.

intu has said it still expects to breach its debt commitments by this deadline of June 26 amid falling rental payments and has asked for an 18-month standstill on debt repayment.

The retail landlord says the coronavirus crisis has heavily impacted its ability to secure rent payments, with some retailers choosing not to pay rents.

The latest development to line up KPMG, Sky understands, is to have been agreed in the last few days as part of intu's contingency plans.

Without an agreement, the waiver that expires on June 26 would almost certainly trigger intu's collapse into administration.

Sky report that one banking source warned this weekend, however, that intu could be declared insolvent within a fortnight if it fails to make sufficient progress in the negotiations with lenders.

intu employs nearly 3,000 people directly with a further 102,000 people working in its shopping centres. 

And another 30,000 people work in Intu's broader supply chain.

In late 2018, intu's £180 million expansion of the Watford shopping centre was completed which saw a cinema, bowling alley, restaurants, and shops built.

intu Watford is preparing for a reopening of most of its stores on June 15.