He said this revision to the trust’s strategy should support its objective of providing investors with an attractive level of income and the potential for capital and income growth.

When we last wrote about Ediston, in May 2019, we advised readers, “with some reluctance”, to sell their shares in the trust, partly on the basis that things were bound to get tougher in bricks-and-mortar retail no matter how well managed this fund might be. 

We feel able to return to a positive stance now in the belief that retail parks at least are through the worst of the turmoil, that Ediston’s portfolio is particularly well positioned for the future evolution of shopping habits and that its policy of actively aiming to keep its rents reasonable should protect them as retailers seek to use overcapacity in the sector as a whole as a means to negotiate lower rents. 

Its decision to concentrate on retail parks looks wise: the real pain in retail is being felt on the high street and in shopping centres.

It is encouraging that even during the recent lockdowns almost three quarters of its tenant retailers were able to remain open for business in some form. Some were essential and therefore allowed to operate normally, while others offered click-and-collect, appointment-only or delivery services. 

This was reflected in the trust’s rent collection figures: despite some insolvencies among its tenants it has received 98.4pc of the rent due for the year to the end of September, compared with 89.3pc last time. The trust’s contracted rental income at the end of the year was £20.8m, a 3pc increase compared with 2020’s £20.2m.

It was this resilience in its rental income that allowed Ediston to increase its dividend, paid monthly, to an annual equivalent of 5p earlier this year. At the current share price of 80p the yield is 6.3pc.