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Elgin’s St Giles Centre - Moray’s only shopping centre - closes doors





Moray’s only shopping centre was gated and padlocked shortly after lunchtime yesterday - and it will not reopen today.

With no great announcement or fuss, the gates were closed and the massive footprint of the St Giles Centre became a void at the heart of Elgin High Street.

The gates at the St Giles Centre are set to stay closed...Picture: Daniel Forsyth
The gates at the St Giles Centre are set to stay closed...Picture: Daniel Forsyth

At the time of closure, the St Giles Centre was a very different place from how it was just 12 days earlier - when businesses and staff first learned told they would have to leave and take their stock with them.

As the public paced the shop-free shopping centre to take a last look inside, the similarity to the opening day in 1991 - which happened before any tenants had moved in - was eerie.

Along with uncertainty and doubt caused by potential job losses, a range of questions about what the end of the St Giles Centre will means are circulating throughout the community.

What will the future of the building be? How long will the gates stay locked? Will it be put on the market? Will the bus station move? How will Elgin adapt?

Upland Developments Limited, the controlling company for shopping centre operator St Giles Shopping Centre Holdings Limited, did not respond to questions about the centre’s future by the publication deadline.

Elgin's St Giles Centre shortly before its indefinite closure.
Elgin's St Giles Centre shortly before its indefinite closure.

Besides any fresh statement from either firm, which are both led by Aviemore businessman and property developer David John Cameron, the next clue may come from company filings.

According to Companies House, the 2023-2024 accounts for operating company St Giles Shopping Centre Holdings Limited are due by the end of the month, with Upland Developments Limited in the same situation.

In a statement released by Upland Developments Limited, a spokesperson said the closure came amid “severe financial pressure”.

In November, Moray Council agreed to pursue around £750,000 in unpaid business rates from St Giles Shopping Centre Holdings Limited.

The public registers of insolvency and liquidation do not indicate that any of Mr Cameron’s firms are currently undergoing liquidation.

However, until more information about the financial situation is revealed, the latest set of accounts only go up to April 2023.

Today, Stagecoach and Moray Council confirmed that Elgin Bus Station will continue to operate as normal, despite the site being owned as part of the St Giles Centre.

The site is rented by Moray Council before being sublet to Stagecoach.

In a joint statement, however, a spokesperson added the caveat that business as usual would only apply “for the time being”, with contingency plans remaining under review.

It is understood that customers and staff will continue having the same access they had before the closure, including the waiting room and staff facilities.

The only public toilet in the centre of Elgin was based in the shopping centre, and many have shared concerns that nothing will be provided to replace it.

A number of town centre businesses are involved a voluntary Elgin BID scheme, where members of the public can use toilet facilities without needing to be customers.

However, with the St Giles Centre’s toilets wheelchair-accessible, some are worried that an equivalent might not be provided.

In total, seven businesses previously based in the St Giles Centre have either confirmed they will stay in Elgin or said they are actively considering alternative premises.

The Northern Scot is working to bring you more on the St Giles Centre as and when we get it.


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