Increase In Xmas Shoppers

Scotland saw the second largest increase in shopper numbers in the UK last month, new figures have revealed.

The number of people visiting stores was 6.2% higher than in December 2011, according to the Scottish Retail Consortium/Springboard footfall monitor. 

Scotland was just one of four parts of the UK to record an increase in the number of shoppers, and was second only to the West Midlands, where there was a 10% rise. 

The Greater London area also experienced a rise in shopper numbers, but at 3.1% the increase was half that experienced north of the border.

Scottish Retail Consortium director Fiona Moriarty said: ``Scotland saw the second best rate of footfall growth of any part of the UK in December. That's a really positive result and bears out the optimism of our sales figures last week, with growth in line with the rest of the UK for the first time in nearly two years.''