THE new boss of Greenock's Oak Mall has revealed the shopping centre is on the road to recovery and outlined his vision for the future.

Peter Clark has taken over as the operations manager and has been tasked with overseeing a turnaround in fortunes.

Mr Clark has spent 12 years managing commercial properties throughout Scotland, England and latterly in Kenya, where he was in charge of the biggest mixed-use complex in east Africa.

He started work on December 10 and says he is already seeing green shoots of recovery at the Mall following a period of turbulence since administration in 2013, a subsequent takeover, the opening of the Port Glasgow shopping park and the loss of several high-profile tenants, including Marks and Spencer in September 2017.

Speaking exclusively to the Tele, Mr Clark said: "This is a particularly difficult time for retail throughout the UK so we have to look at what's the best way to react to the present climate and attract more people in. "The Oak Mall is in the middle of the town centre so it's got to be part of the community and offer what people need and want. "We have to get the basics right and that's a clean and secure environment for people to relax in and to enjoy it.

"People are spending money.

"Cash is going through the tills, the retailers are seeing growth. "It's not back to where it was before but it's starting to grow and confidence is coming back and I have to keep that going and put that message out there."

Mr Clark, who is based in Paisley, believes the Mall can fill a void in the retail market by providing goods and services not available online and create a warm and welcoming environment.

He is also optimistic that the owners' vision to demolish the eastern wing of the centre and carry out a raft of improvements can still be achieved despite the blueprint being rejected by Inverclyde Council's planning department in November.

The Mall boss said: "A number of plans have been tabled for the Oak Mall that I believe if they come to fruition would really benefit the mall and help to drive it forward.

"I know that means reducing its size but maybe that's what's needed to concentrate more on the quality of product that's in it. "I'm hopeful the plans will eventually come through.

"I would like to drive that forward and create an environment and centre that's good for Greenock, landlords, tenants and customers.

"It's difficult but not impossible. "We need to offer anything you can't get online and a good food environment, be more niche.

"There's lots of different things that we can do to create a really nice hub in the town centre that people can feed into. "I've done that in a number of other places with struggling assets in the past."