Benefitting from the ‘Healthy High Streets’ initiative, Bournemouth Town Centre BID has revealed a 20% surge in the town centre’s visitor footfall.
Bournemouth is breaking the mould at a time when many towns, shopping centres, and high streets around the UK are experiencing falling visitor numbers. Visitor footfall in Bournemouth’s town centre continues to grow at an exceptional rate. To date in 2017, numbers are up 20.4% on the previous year, this is particularly impressive when compared to the national average of -1.1%, and comes on top of a 12% rise last year.
This news is in part attributed to the success of the Town Centre Business Improvement District (BID) which has seenBournemouth become a ‘Healthy High Streets’ town. ‘Healthy High Streets’ is a Business in the Community initiative designed to help revive local high streets and restore a sense of pride. Bournemouth is one of 100 towns across the UK now receiving support from some of the UK’s biggest brands, including Marks & Spencer, Boots, Wilko, Greggs, EE, and Santander.
Steve Hughes, Manager of Bournemouth Town Centre BID said:
“The Healthy High Streets partnership is really paying off as can be seen in the figures. In order to succeed and attract more people, the town centre needs to deliver something unique. Bournemouth has a fantastic mix of shops, cafés, bars, restaurants, nightlife, gardens, a new cinema complex and a first-class beach. Having worked hard to promote and improve on this exceptional offering, it’s great to see that more people are choosing to visit our beautiful town centre.
We will be working together over the coming months to do even more to improve the fortunes of the town centre and would welcome more partners to join us.”
Thanks to fee paying businesses, the Town Centre BID has to date been able to invest almost £3million towards improving the town centre. This has helped Bournemouth to compete against other coastal high streets which are averaging falling footfalls of -2.7%. Bournemouth is also well ahead of other Southwest towns which are experiencing an average lull of -1.8%.
Hayley Smith, Bournemouth store manager for Boots, said:
“It is great to see Bournemouth Town Centre performing so well. The work being done by the BID and working with our Healthy High Streets partners is really paying off in getting more shoppers and visitors into our rapidly improving town centre.”
Due for renewal this year, the Town Centre BID has laid out plans for improving Bournemouth over the next five years. This includes supporting local companies, protecting jobs and attracting new businesses, which will only be possible with the financial resources brought together by the BID.
Town centre independent business owner, Stuart Smith, of ceramics studio and café ‘All Fired Up’ said:
“The Town Centre BID has reinforced Bournemouth’s excellent reputation as a shopping and tourist destination. We’ve witnessed first-hand many of their efforts bearing fruit, with many more people visiting the town. We have also benefitted from their business support, which continues to help us attract new customers.”
Established in 2012, the Town Centre BID has introduced a series of initiatives over the last 5 years. This has included sustained marketing, promotions, new events, a welcoming team of town rangers, and new signage to bring more customers to the town and improve the profits of local businesses.
To find out more about the Bournemouth Town Centre BID, visit www.towncentrebid.co.uk.
