Edinburgh mall almost led to closure for Jenners

Published on Saturday 22 May 2010 12:20

IT has stood as a beacon of commerce for more than 170 years and is one of the Capital's most famous stores.

• Jenners could have closed in the 80s due to plans for the Waverley Centre

But today it can be revealed that Jenners threatened to shut up shop in the 1980s over concerns about a new West End shopping mall.

According to a confidential letter, Jenners bosses were said to be considering its future as plans to build Princes Street Mall – then called Waverley Centre – were debated by city bosses.

A later document suggested Jenners performed a U-turn, saying "they would stay" if additional car parking was created at Waverley Station.

The revelation comes as thousands of secret government files were declassified at the National Archives of Scotland (NAS).

Intended to remain secret until 2025, the data was disclosed under new Freedom Of Information laws that will see more than 4,000 files open to scrutiny for the first time.

The records, dating from 1979 to 1994, include proposals to ban outside drinking across Scotland, treat drug addicts with a methadone substitute and introduce the MMR vaccine.

Previously private documents also reveal top brass from Gleneagles Hotel were interested in expanding to a vacant plot on Lothian Road – a site near to the existing Sheraton Hotel – and that during early construction of Princes Mall the council had failed to sell a single unit in the shopping centre.

One file, housed in the archives stored at New Register House on Charlotte Square, disclosed sensitive letters between officials blasting the city council for extreme delays and "being uncooperative with local businesses" during the development of Lothian Road and Princes Street Mall in the late eighties and early nineties.

One official labelled the council's development of Lothian Road a "donkey's breakfast", while another pointed out that masterplans for the development were five years old and urged them to be "brought up-to-date".

Addressing the same project, a Gleneagles chief asked "can (the council] be trusted with our Capital city?".

Senior inspecting officer at NAS, Dr Hugh Hagan, said: "Anybody can now access any files older than 15 years old. They used to have a 30-year embargo on all files, and hardly any of them have ever been seen, but now anybody can stroll in and look through them.

"We had a big response when we released files last September and in January and we're hoping for the same this time round."

Minister for parliamentary business, Bruce Crawford said: "This marks the third and final phase of a process that has opened secret Scottish Government files. Thanks to the efforts of the National Archives of Scotland, more information than ever before is now available for public viewing."