The firm behind the closed St Giles shopping centre had just £47 in its bank account while owing millions, we can reveal.
An interim report from liquidators stated that, in February 2025, the company’s debt totalled £5,081,338 and the apparent lack of assets made it “highly unlikely” that creditors would be repaid.
The shopping centre, on Elgin High Street, closed on January 20, 2025, after giving shops just two weeks notice.
Liquidators also confirmed that they have held “embryonic discussions” with potential investors and former tenants of the shopping centre.
Aviemore businessman David John Cameron was the sole director and shareholder of St Giles Shopping Centre Holdings, which operated the centre.
He filed for liquidation at Inverness Sheriff Court on February 20, 2025.
We can reveal that Moray Council was owed exactly £732,463 in unpaid business rates, according to the interim report by liquidators Interpath.
We can also reveal that, in figures submitted to liquidators, Mr Cameron stated that another of his firms, Upland Developments, was owed £417,580 from his shopping centre company.
Mr Cameron was the sole shareholder of Upland Developments until June 27, 2017, when all of his shares were transferred to a new company, Upland Developments Holdings Limited – which he also controls.
More than 40 creditors are listed in the report – including the company’s lender, landlord and tenants of the shopping centre.
Will the shopping centre’s debts be paid?
The liquidation process typically involves a company’s assets being sold to try and pay off a portion of its debt.
However, in the report, the only potential asset identified was the firm’s 125-year operating lease over the St Giles Centre – despite the company being “in default” of the agreement.
Though the value had not been independently valued, liquidators said, “informal discussions with property professionals suggest that the value may be limited”.
A balance sheet, based on information handed to the liquidators by Mr Cameron showed that, between April 2024 and January 2025, the company lost all of its £1.4 million of fixed assets.
Other than the lease, the report said: “We have not identified any other Company assets.”
Figures in the report, provided by Mr Cameron, listed the company’s biggest single asset as a pending £331 VAT payment from HMRC and state there was just £47 in the firm’s bank account.
Given the lack of assets, Interpath said it was “highly unlikely” that cash would be raised to repay either the bank or anyone else.
The decline of the St Giles Centre
The liquidation report states that Mr Cameron said the St Giles Centre had “always struggled to find and retain retail tenants”.
He said out-of-town retail parks and the growth of internet shopping had increased the number of vacant units.
However, the Covid-19 pandemic eventually played a key role in the shopping centre’s demise because pandemic rates relief given did not cover previously-vacant units.
Beginning at this point to fall behind on its business rates, the figure owed to Moray Council would eventually grow to almost £750,000.
In November 2024, however, liquidators said that despite “lengthy discussions” with Mr Cameron, a “sympathetic” Moray Council could not write off the unpaid debt.
Retail tenants then received legal letters asking them to pay rent directly to Moray Council – rather than the shopping centre.
When rent was next due, some tenants had stopped paying and Mr Cameron decided the business was “no longer viable”, the report said.
On January 6, 2025, he told all retail tenants to leave by January 20, 2025.
Who owns the St Giles Centre, and why?
The report also shines fresh light on Mr Cameron’s history with the St Giles Centre’s ownership.
Liquidators confirmed that the St Giles Centre was purchased for £19.9 million in 2008 by a company linked to the businessman.
But, in 2012, Mr Cameron became sole director and shareholder of new firm St Giles Shopping Centre Holdings, which bought the centre for £9.9 million in a transaction “100 per cent funded by debt”, the report said.
Interpath confirmed that Mr Cameron’s company then performed a “sale and leaseback” move in 2014, which saw the shopping centre sold to Imperial Tobacco Pension Trustees Limited for £4.5 million – with his company given a 125-year operating lease.
Cash from the transaction was then used to write down the company’s debt, the report states.
What have liquidators done so far, and what are the next steps?
The interim report confirmed that liquidators have frozen “all known bank accounts and credit cards” linked to St Giles Shopping Centre Limited.
Interpath also detailed conversations with the building’s owner about the current state of the company’s lease, along with “embryonic discussions” with potential investors and shopping centre tenants.
The liquidators are now set to investigate the lead up to liquidation, along with the conduct of Mr Cameron, and pledged to work with Moray Council on the “long term future for the centre”.
