Footfall overall saw a slight improvement compared to last year driven by a better than expected January. An additional 338,988 people visited the city centre in January, compared to the previous year, a 6.8 per cent increase. February saw a dip compared to the same month last year, of 149,526 a decrease of 2.7 per cent. March’s figures were clearly impacted by the Union Street fire making a comparison less valuable. The recovery from the transport issues is very encouraging.
By Friday 27 March, two days after the train services returned to normal and the bulk of the station fully reopened, the footfall was 214,000 up from 203,000 the previous year. This was very encouraging given the scale of the fire and its impact on public transport.
Commercial areas outperformed retail and hospitality regions, as expected for the first quarter of the year, when hospitality often faces its quietest period. Commercial areas have now had six months of continued improvement on the previous year, which is a very encouraging pattern.
