Record number of empty shops in Scotland By Kristy Dorsey Scottish shop vacancies jumped to a six-year high in the first quarter of this year, with the rate of empty outlets highest among shopping centres. In figures said to lay bare the “maelstrom” wrought by the pandemic, the latest Vacancy Monitor released today by the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) shows that 15.3 per cent of all shops are now lying empty, up from 14.4% in the final three months of last year. Compared to the first quarter of 2020, the vacancy rate is up by 2.4 percentage points. One out of five shopping centre units are now unoccupied, with the vacancy rate rising to 20.1% from 18.2% in the previous quarter. Lucy Stainton of Local Data Company, which produces the monitor in conjunction with the SRC, said their lower proportion of “essential” retailing and reliance on declining categories such as fashion, department stores and casual dining has left shopping centres particularly exposed to the effects of the pandemic.