A shopping centre in the middle of Motherwell is resisting the high street headwinds across Scotland with record occupancy rates following a £450,000 refurbishment.
Four new tenants have pushed the Brandon Centre's occupancy rate up to 91% - their highest since Chester Properties took over the centre four years ago.
Earlier this week the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) warned that vacancy rates on Scotland's high streets have hit their highest level since July 2011, up from 10.1% then to 11.1%, with Tie Rack the latest to join the list of big name casualties.
Fiona Moriarty, director of the SRC, said: "While the last few months have seen tentative signs of economic recovery, trading conditions remain challenging in many towns and shopping centres across Scotland.
"Motherwell's occupancy rates demonstrate that they are doing well at recruiting and retaining tenants to the shopping centre and have a good understanding of what their customers want."
William Gear, director of Chester Properties, said: "Achieving occupancy rates of over 90% is a tremendous achievement at any time but particularly impressive when so many big name retailers are casualties of the tough trading conditions.
"Our performance vindicates our decision to relaunch Motherwell Shopping centre with £450,000 worth of refurbishment works over the last few months and install the town centre's new free wi-fi system jointly funded by North Lanarkshire Council".
Jan Halfpenny, chair of the 1100-strong Lanarkshire Branch of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: "This news will provide a welcome boost for our members whose independent shops and businesses - and the choice they offer - underpins the vitality and viability of Motherwell and other shopping centres".
The Brandon Centre's four new businesses are CeX the entertainment and electronics store, Windmills Café and Training Centre, Bella Mani beauty salon and charity shop Poundemonium.
High street footfall dropped annually by 3.6% compared with 2.9% in shopping centres in October, according to data from PwC, with an average of three shops closing every day in Scotland in the first six months of 2013. Paisley town centre is one of the hardest hit with 20% of shops empty.
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