Socks play part in Glasgow beating Edinburgh and bucking railway station national sales trend

Bosses at the rail infrastructure group said the strong performance from stores operating across its stations had been boosted by the opening of sock retailer Soctopus, as part of Network Rail's efforts to “diversify the retail experience for passengers”.

The 16 per cent year on year gain at Glasgow Central covers the three months to July - a period during which the British Retail Consortium tracked a 1.4 per cent decline in like-for-like sales, according to Network Rail, which manages 19 UK stations, including Glasgow Central and Edinburgh Waverley north of the Border.

Across all 19 managed stations, total retail sales in the quarter reached £225.9 million, delivering an increase of more than £25m compared to the previous quarter while life-for-like sales increased 5 per cent across the retail portfolio. Network Rail’s annual retail sales for 2023/2024 surpassed £842m and were 2 per cent ahead of 2019/20, prior to the full impact of the pandemic.

Network Rail tracks sales performances across the retail, food and beverage (F&B), and grocery categories, with the quarter under review seeing the strongest like-for-like growth in the grocery category (up 8 per cent).

Hamish Kiernan, commercial director, property at Network Rail, said: “Retail at Glasgow Central station continues to go from strength to strength. Our latest sales figures indicate how travel retail remains a marketplace of resilience for our brands. We are particularly encouraged to welcome an additional pop-up to Glasgow and throughout our portfolio we are seeing positive performance supported by our retail and F&B offer.”

The group, which is a non-departmental public body of the Department for Transport, said that it continued to improve the retail experience for passengers. Some 30 brands have been introduced to the portfolio over the last year, delivering a “curated offer” across Network Rail’s locations. Income generated through retail is central to wider reinvestment from Network Rail into the transformation of Britain’s railway, it added.

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