Silverburn Shopping Centre is one of the newest out of town shopping centres in Scotland, having opened for the first time on 25 October 2007, although a number of units were still to be completed at this time. The centre was built to replace the 214,000 sq ft Pollok Shopping Centre, and Silverburn far exceeds this level of shopping space, having 1,500,000 sq ft of shopping area.

The centre is located in Pollok, just beside the M77 motorway that links Glasgow with Ayrshire. Being next to the motorway, it is obviously easy for motorists from Glasgow, Ayrshire and beyond to reach the centre and its 4,500 car parking spaces. For those people not travelling by car, the centre has its own bus station, with both local buses and buses direct from Glasgow arriving regularly.

THE MALLS

The centre is split into 5 'shopping districts'; The Crescent, The Square, The Lane, The Circus and The Garden. Each of these areas is supposed to have its own unique style, although personally I don't really notice that much difference, apart from The Garden, which is where the majority of the restaurants are located. As you may expect from a Garden area, this is a more laid back area, with a water feature in the middle.

Silverburn has been designed to be very spacious, so has very high ceilings in the malls, despite most of the shops being over only one floor. Similarly, the malls are very wide, so even on a busy Saturday afternoon, it doesn't feel crowded, a major advantage over other similar shopping centres.

THE SHOPS

The main shops in the centre are Marks & Spencer, Debenhams, Next and Tesco. Most of the shops you would find in any high street are also here, such as Boots, Superdrug, Carphone Warehouse, Zavvi, Game, H&M, Top Shop, Top Man, Dorothy Perkins and Burtons. However there are also some more exclusive shops, such as Hawes & Curtis, Vero Moda, Kurt Geiger and Benetton.

The Marks & Spencer store is supposed to be the biggest in Scotland, however in my opinion it is far smaller than the Argyle St branch in Glasgow, so I'm not sure on what basis it is the biggest. Similarly, Debenhams is supposed to also be the biggest in Scotland, but again the Argyle St branch appears to be at least double the size.

The centre has 95 units, although I think there are still 2 or 3 empty units. For a full list of stores, check the website, www.silverburn.com

EAT, REST & PLAY

What shopping centre would be complete without a choice of restaurants? At Silverburn you have a choice of 14 cafes and restaurants. What I like about Silverburn is that there are cafes and restaurants throughout the centre, rather than all located in one area, although in saying that the majority of the restaurants are located in the Garden area.

The restaurants cover all tastes and budgets, ranging from Yo Sushi! to the Debenhams café, Pizza Hut to Nando's, Wagamama to O'Briens. You can also find a café in Tesco, and Marks & Spencer has two café's, one inside the store, and one just outside in The Crescent.

For a relaxing time, there is a spa on the mezzanine level, and a Gala Bingo in the Garden area.

I've just noticed on their website that wi-fi is also available throughout the centre, allowing you to check the internet and emails as you relax with a coffee.

PARKING

As I mentioned above, the centre is well served by car parks with over 4,500 free car parking spaces located over 4 car parks; Blue, Red, Green and Yellow. There is a multi storey car park with direct access to the centre. The thing that I like best about this car park is that above each space are two lights; one red and one green. When the space is empty, the light is green, when a car drives in, the light automatically changes to red, making it very easy to locate an empty space. I've never saw this feature in any other car parks, but it is very handy and its use should be expanded to other car parks as soon as possible!

In common with out of town shopping centres, parking here is free, although be careful if you park in the car park outside Tesco. This car park is privately owned by Tesco and is exclusively for the use of Tesco customers and there are signs up limiting the period of parking to 4 hours or a fixed penalty notice of £70 can be issued.

OPENING HOURS

The centre and shops are open from 10am - 9pm Monday to Friday, 9am - 7pm on Saturdays and 10am - 6pm on Sundays, although some of the larger stores, including Debenhams and Marks & Spencer stay open an hour later Monday - Saturday. Also some of the restaurants have different opening hours.

The Tesco Extra store is a 24 hour store, so is open for those last minute items you've forgotten to buy during the day.

OTHER FACILITIES

The Centre caters well for disabled shoppers, with all the main shops being on one level, although some also have a shopping level upstairs. As with most other shopping centres, there is a Shopmobility service, offering the hire of electric wheelchairs to shoppers.

The centre is also child friendly and offers a Childsafe service, where most stores display stickers with the phone number of the Customer Services desk, who should be contacted if you're child is lost. This way you can stay in the area you last saw them and still be able to report the incident to the Customer Service team, who can immediately start a search of the area, both in person and via CCTV.

There are benches situated throughout the centre, although by the look of them they have been designed for short comfort breaks, not for a long gossip.

SUMMARY

The centre is easily reached and well planned with a good range of shops. However, there aren't that many shops that you wouldn't find elsewhere, especially for menswear, so it isn't a centre that I visit very often. This centre is best suited for wet Saturday afternoons, where you can pass a few hours staying dry and not being cramped into small malls.

Silverburn Shopping Centre
Barrhead Road
Glasgow
G53 6QR

0141 880 3200

www.silverburn.com