Ayr shopping centres in administration

The Kyle Shopping Centre in Ayr and the nearby Arran Mall, both of which are owned by Glasgow-based Cairnduff Developments Ayr Limited, were placed in the hands of joint administrators Paul Dounis and Ken Pattullo of Begbies Traynor on 7 June 2013.

The shopping centres will continue to trade as normal whilst the administrators consider a number of different strategies to improve customer footfall before seeking a buyer for the business.

Located in the heart of the town with direct access from the High Street, the Kyle Centre features 27 shop units, comprising 95,00sq ft of retail space. As well as benefitting from adjacent parking, it has a newly redeveloped food court. The nearby Arran Mall features 22 units providing 42,000sq ft of retail space.

Paul Dounis of Begbies Traynor said: “Like many regional towns, headline rental values for retail units have fallen dramatically over the last few years. Unfortunately, these shopping centres have suffered from the fall in consumer spending combined with increased competition from other retail venues such as Ayr Central Shopping Centre, Heathfield Retail Park and the Silverburn Mall in Glasgow.

“However, we believe that with their excellent town centre location, both the Kyle Centre and the Arran Mall have appeal for local shoppers. We will continue to trade the centres while we explore the options for improving visitor numbers, this includes potentially reconfiguring the Kyle Centre to make it more attractive to shoppers and embarking on discussions with other large space retailers.

“The message is that for customers and tenants it is very much business as usual although they can expect to see some exciting improvements over the coming months.”

No jobs have been affected by the Administration.