Pounding the pavement September / October 2015

Transcription

1 Pounding the pavement September / October 2015 Footfall Survey Abingdon, Faringdon and Wantage Report issued: December 2015

2 2 National footfall survey trends Nationally, footfall surveys are carried out by the Association of Town Centre Managers (ATCM). Published monthly, the indices are a collaboration between the ATCM and Springboard - the leading provider of automated visitor counting and retail sales analysis - to provide a national measure of the performance of the UK's town centres. Performance of the UK's high streets Over the last year to date, footfall in the UK s high streets has declined by -0.9 per cent. UK footfall benchmark summary for October 2015 Annual % change High Street Index (00:00 to 23:59) Night Time Economy Index (18:00 to 03:59) Shopping Centre Index Retail Park Index -0.9% -2.2% -1.3% 2.9% Source: ATCM Springboard National High Street Index and Night Time Economy Index

3 3 How are the Vale towns performing? Set against the national picture of a year-on-year -0.9 per cent decline, the Vale towns are doing very well and footfall across the district has increased by an average of 15 per cent. % change Town 2014 Town Abingdon 1,318 1, % Faringdon % Wantage 1,101 1, % Vale average 949 1, % Across the Vale towns footfall is 15 per cent higher than Dramatic increases are particularly evident in Faringdon where footfall has increased by 25 per cent and Wantage where footfall has increased by nearly 20 per cent. In Abingdon footfall has increased by eight per cent. Nationally footfall in high street locations has declined by almost one per cent year-on-year. Higher footfall in the Vale towns could be party attributed to the exciting range of local events and regular markets, the mix of independent shops and destination retailers, and high rates of retailer occupation. Two hours free car parking undoubtedly adds to the appeal of shopping in the towns as it reduces the inconvenience and cost of parking. Weekly markets continue to have a positive effect on footfall, with footfall 12 per cent higher in Abingdon and 19 per cent higher in Faringdon on market days. Over the last year the Faringdon town team have been implementing schemes to improve and expand the Tuesday markets and employed a market consultant to help increase footfall. In Wantage, the regular weekly Wednesday market does not appear to impact footfall, although the council is working with the town team to improve the weekly Wednesday and Saturday markets, thus driving footfall into the town centre.

4 Abingdon 4 The footfall surveys were undertaken at different times of day (10am-12noon, 12noon- 2pm and 2-4pm), at four different locations (Market Place, outside Santander on Bury Street, on Stert Street and on the High Street) and on different days of the week, which can be found in the appendix. Abingdon: hourly footfall Market Place Santander Stert Street High Street 1,955 1, ,305 2,275 2, ,442 weekday (am) 1,853 1, ,330 lunchtime 1,704 1, ,088 weekday (pm) Saturday 1,512 1, Source: Vale of White Horse District Council In Abingdon there was an average increase of eight per cent, with footfall significantly higher along the High Street. Weekday mornings tend to be the busiest day in Abingdon, particularly in the Market Place and outside Santander at the top of Bury Street. This is likely to be due to people going to work and school in the morning. Generally footfall remains high at all times in the Market Place, outside Santander and on the High Street. Throughout the day on Sunday the Market Place and Bury Street witnessed the highest footfall in Abingdon with 3,708 and 3,324 people counted respectively.

5 Faringdon 5 The footfall surveys were undertaken at different times of day (10am-12noon, 12noon- 2pm and 2-4pm), at three different locations shown on the map below (Budgens on Marlborough Street, Lloyds TSB Market Place and The Piano Gallery on London Street) and on different days of the week, which can be found in the appendix. Faringdon : hourly footfall Budgens Lloyds Piano Gallery weekday (am) lunchtime weekday (pm) Saturday Source: Vale of White Horse District Council Footfall in Faringdon has increased by 25 per year-on-year this is the highest increase of all the Vale towns. Locations at Budgens and Lloyds have experienced a strong growth in footfall, particularly at lunchtime and in the afternoon. Budgens is the anchor retailer in the town and lunchtime trade may contribute to this. The highest footfall is noted outside Lloyds on weekday mornings and the weekly Tuesday market contributes to this with high footfall seen on these days. The footfall on Saturdays varies between locations, with the Market Place witnessing significantly higher footfall than Marlborough Street or London Street.

6 Wantage 6 The footfall surveys were undertaken at different times of day (10am-12noon, 12noon- 2pm and 2pm-4pm), at four different locations shown on the map below (outside Fat Face, HSBC Market Place, Sainsbury s and at the top of Mill Street) and on different days of the week, which can be found in the appendix. Wantage : hourly footfall Fat Face HSBC Sainsbury s Mill Street 1,343 1,269 2, ,491 1,458 1, weekday (am) lunchtime 1,372 1,316 3,243 1,031 1,180 1,082 1, weekday (pm) Saturday 1,350 1,362 1, Source: Vale of White Horse District Council Footfall in Wantage has increased by 19 per cent across all locations. Increases have been particularly dramatic outside of Sainsbury s and in Mill Street. Sainsbury s is the anchor retailer in the town where the highest footfall is recorded throughout the week. Footfall here has risen by nearly 26 per cent compared with last year. In particular, it is busiest on weekday lunchtime with an average of 3,243 people recorded, which could be due to lunchtime trade. At the time this survey was undertaken Mill Street was closed to vehicles due to infrastructure works, however this does not seem to have had a detrimental effect on footfall. Footfall here was recorded 40 per cent higher year-on-year. This could be credited to the new retailers that have moved to Mill Street over the last year. Weekday lunchtime has noted the most dramatic improvements with an average increase of 67 per cent.

7 7 Appendix Purpose of the surveys The surveys have been carried out to assist in the formulation of action plans for the market towns in the Vale of White Horse. They demonstrate the importance of the role of the markets and events in the functioning of the town centre. The surveys will also be used as a baseline for monitoring vitality in town centres and in assessing the impact of individual developments. When: surveys were undertaken on the following dates: Abingdon Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday mornings (10am until 12noon), lunchtime (12noon until 2pm) and afternoon (2pm until 4pm). Abingdon s weekly farmers market is on Monday morning. Faringdon Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday in the mornings (10am until 12noon), lunchtime (12noon until 2pm) and afternoon (2pm until 4pm). Faringdon s weekly market is on Tuesdays and Women s Institute market on a Friday. Wantage Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday in the mornings (10am until 12noon), lunchtime (12noon until 2pm) and afternoon (2pm until 4pm). Wantage s farmers market is on the last Saturday morning of every month with smaller markets on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Weather conditions were noted and cold / rainy days were avoided. Footfall Defined We counted the number of pedestrians (walking in either direction) at each location. All adults and children were counted (babies and children in push-chairs were not) in five minute intervals. Results were then grossed up to give an hourly count. This conforms to best practice guidelines.