For anyone who missed our Behind the Headlines feature on Chichester’s footfall figures, here’s another chance to find out how our city centre is faring.
Shoppers are still flocking to Chichester despite a national drop in the number of people visiting Britain’s high streets.
Latest footfall figures for the city show a ‘resilience’, after a huge recovery following a tough 2010 when the recession hit.
Following national footfall trends, the number of shoppers on Chichester’s high street fell by 1.86 per cent from the previous year, with national footfall falling 1.2 per cent according to the British Retail Consortium.
However there is a huge 62 per cent increase in footfall from the year the recession hit in 2010, showing things are looking up in the city, so it’s not all bad news.
Louise Fenwick, vice-president of Chichester Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said: “The annual footfall is consistent with what’s been happening in Chichester, but also shows how resilient this amazing city and its surroundings are.
“In the past few years we have seen a number of empty commercial premises, but in the majority of instances, we know that they are earmarked for others to move into and there is often a waiting list.
“Commercially, too, we mustn’t forget that the negotiation of leases and arrangements often can take several months, so what appears to be empty commercial space often has a tenant in waiting.”
Kim Long, city centre manager, said of empty shops, there were ‘more than ever before, sadly’, however many of them were under offer.
With several high-street chains on the brink of collapse and many independent shops struggling with high business rates, Chichester’s footfall figures are good news.
For instance, comparing the last shopping days before Christmas (Saturday, December 22, 2012, and Friday, December 23, 2011), Chichester’s footfall was up 19 per cent on last year. Saturday, December 22 was the busiest day of 2012, with an estimate of 71,566 people shopping in the city. The previous year saw 60,166 people on December 23, a Friday.
On one day in December, footfall was 100 per cent up from its equivalent shopping day in 2011. December 15, 2012, a Saturday, saw 68,836 people whereas December 15, 2011, which was a Thursday, saw half the number – at 34,398. You would expect a rise, but not by 100 per cent.
If you look at year-on-year figures for December, things are looking up in the city.
Although footfall figures were over a million in 2006 and 2007, there was a huge drop for the next three years, with 2010 dropping to just over 650,000 shoppers.
However, 2011 saw the best year yet, bringing footfall figures up 65 per cent from the previous year, when more than one million people came to the city to shop.
Mrs Fenwick said: “2009 and 2010 very clearly saw the recession arrive, but where footfall dropped, many retailers reported fewer visits during this time, but very often the same or higher spend per customer when they did come in.
“The drop in December 2010 may well have been due to the lack of Christmas lights, which unfortunately achieved national press coverage, but the very healthy increase in footfall in 2011 shows how resilient Chichester is – a city in which it is hard to get a restaurant table during the week, unless you’ve booked!”
In December 2011, the Christmas lights were back, and footfall figures soared back up past the million mark – and although 2012 saw a slight drop of 1.6 per cent, the figures showed a recovery from a worrying dip in footfall.
This could be seen as encouraging news considering internet sales, empty shops and high-street chains such as Jessops and Comet collapsing.
There were also chains on the brink of collapse such as HMV and Blockbuster, as the Observer went to press.
The figures showed some surprises though.
The busiest month of the year was actually August, followed by July and then June. December came in fourth, so it seems tourism might be a bigger boost for the city than Christmas.
Mrs Fenwick said: “Chichester consistently punches well above its weight in terms of what it has to offer and we are very lucky that we aren’t a city that only relies on retail to bring visitors in.
“With such impressive heritage and culture on offer and a healthy central business district, Chichester brings in much more than just shoppers and continues to keep the economy going.”