Scotland’s retail parks race ahead of rest of UK

OUT-OF-TOWN retail parks in Scotland are performing “significantly” better than those elsewhere in the UK, according to the latest snapshot of the sector.

Footfall in Scottish retail parks jumped 8 per cent in August, well ahead of the year-on-year average of 1.7 per cent for the UK. Picture: Neil Hanna

The study, published today by the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) and data firm Springboard, found that footfall in retail parks north of the Border jumped 8 per cent in August, well ahead of the year-on-year average of 1.7 per cent for the UK as a whole.

Diane Wehrle, insights director at Springboard, said the sector was “significantly outperforming the UK average, with a continuous increase over the past 17 months and an average uplift of 7.6 per cent in 2015 compared with 2 per cent across the UK”.

However, the number of people taking to Scotland’s high streets and shopping centres continued to fall, dragging total footfall down 1.5 per cent, and SRC director David Lonsdale called for more public sector support to drive investment.