Footfall analysis for Welsh high streets, reported by Business News Wales (see link) shows that footfall in Welsh town centres grew in February, bucking the trend in the rest of the UK.
Commentary from the retail analysts Springboard, puts the growth down to town centres focusing on leisure and dining experiences to attract people by complementing the shopping offer in the towns.
Our work in researching and reporting on town centre prospects in the last few years supports this. Retail expert Bill Grimsey, speaking at our AGM in Lampeter in 2014 suggested that businesses within towns need to collectively look at and improve their offer to give people a reason to visit – to make town centres destinations of choice.
We worked with St Catherine’s Walk in Carmarthen to put on a photography exhibition celebrating local rugby heroes, a fixture that led to a spike in footfall in Carmarthen.
Our recent work for Carmarthenshire County Council looking at the feasibility of a pop-up shops initiative in rural Carmarthenshire also highlighted the need to focus on events and co-ordinated efforts to give people a reason to visit and engage with their towns again.
It’s through this continued hard work that February’s spike in footfall across town centres will become real sustainable growth.
Talk to our Build a Better Business team at Antur Teifi about our experience of working with town centres.
