Worrying rise in high street shop vacancies

The number of people visiting Scotland’s high streets grew strongly last month.

The latest Scottish Retail Consortium springboard monitor report showed a 3.2% increase in footfall to shops in April, the fastest growth seen in Scotland since mid-2014.

The uplift was seen on high streets and in retail parks but not in established shopping centres.

The research also found a rise in the number of void shop units in Scotland, up 0.2% to 9.2% in April.

SRC’s Ewan MacDonald-Russell said: “A mixed picture this quarter, with footfall rising but offset by a modest but nonetheless worrying increase in the high street vacancy rate.”