A popular climbing attraction at the crisis-hit East Kilbride shopping centre has announced its closure.
Aerial Adventures said yesterday that it's base at EK, East Kilbride's Olympia mall will not re-open after shutting up shop on Friday.
The reason for the sudden closure is not yet known or how many local staff were affected.
A statement posted on their website and social media said: "It is with regret that we have to announce that our last day of trading was Friday, March 10, 2023.
"We would like to take this opportunity to thank all our amazing customers and staff who have supported us over the past six years.
"It's business as usual at our Livingston location and we welcome any of our East Kilbride customers to come visit us there."
The facility boasted a climbing wall and HiRide adventure course 50ft above the ice rink as well as an indoor soft play area.
It opened in 2016 as par of an ambitious £10million leisure development The Hub, EK. The leisure developments included 11 new restaurants and cafes, a gym, a library, a make-over for the ice rink and the existing nine-screen Odeon Luxe cinema, but many of the units now lie empty.
The latest closure is yet another blow to Scotland's largest undercover shopping and leisure centre which fell into administration just weeks before Christmas.
Lanarkshire Live exclusively revealed that the owners of EK, East Kilbride - Sapphire - have become insolvent, plunging the future of the centre into uncertainty.
It followed a series of difficult years for the centre, which has struggled to retain existing, or attract new, businesses to the town.
Disgruntled East Kilbride shoppers hit out after Marks and Spencer shut up shop in the town centre for good.
The store shut its doors for the final time on February 25 after a heated legal battle with landlords over the lease.
M&S announced its intention to close the flagship store at the East Kilbride shopping centre in 2018 and began winding down operations two years later with just 67 staff being kept on.
Locals and MPs campaigned to save the beloved shop and the store did continue to trade but the poor outlet offering was subsequently slammed as a 'ghost store'.
Traders within the shopping centre have reportedly been told it is “business as usual” as Sapphire try to attract a new buyer.
Blair Nimmo and Alistair McAlinden of Interpath Advisory were appointed joint administrators.
A spokesperson said: "As we said in the press release that we issued upon the appointment of the joint administrators, we have engaged Scoop to be our strategic asset managers and continue to work with Reith Lambert as property managers, looking after the day-to-day operations."
South Lanarkshire Council said it "remains in discussion" with the shopping centre administrators regarding its future.
A spokesperson for EK, East Kilbride said, "Thrillseekers have enjoyed the Aerial Adventures attractions for a number of years and although we are sorry to see the original operators move on from EK, we are hopeful of securing another operator. We will update our Facebook page and website as soon as we have more information."
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