Latest town centre footfall data shows further year on year increases

Footfall in Wrexham town centre increased by more than 50% in early February, according to figures released by Wrexham Council.

Earlier this month Wrexham.com reported that figures given to the Town Centre Forum showed that footfall between December 31st 2017 and January 27th 2018 was up 16.9% on the previous year.

During the four week period 282,135 visits were recorded – up from the 241,271 in the same period last year.

Wrexham Council have since released new figures for the week from from Sunday 4th February to Saturday 10th February, showing a 54% increased on same period in 2017.

The footfall figures are recorded with the help of Springboard – a retail analyst – based on data gathered by a counter on Hope Street.

In 2017 it was announced that an electronic pedestrian / footfall tracker had been installed installed at the corner of Hope Street and Regent Street – between Barclays bank and WH Smith.

This is the first time there has been comparable data for the town’s footfall as there have been complete years worth to compare against – despite questions being raised over the data collection, the year on year comparison on the same methodology does show an increase regardless.

The newest data has been welcomed by Lead Member for Economic Performance and Regeneration, Cllr Terry Evans, who also cited two major projects in the town centre as potential footfall boosters.

Cllr Terry Evans, Lead Member for Economic Performance and Regeneration, said: “While we will, of course, need to look at broader data before we can really start to make more detailed predictions about shopping and footfall trends in the Town Centre, these figures do provide cause for optimism.

“The figures will also be very useful to traders to offset against or compare with their takings each day, and through that we will be able to monitor the regeneration of the town centre in greater detail.

“And it’s all the more encouraging when the figures are set against the backdrop of other good news about the future of the Town Centre, especially with the upcoming opening of Tŷ Pawb on April 2 and the excellent news that the former TJ Hughes will be taken on by Techniquest Glyndwr for 12 months.”

Last week Wrexham Council also announced that more than £400,000 of improvements will be made to Wrexham town centre – with work due to start early in spring.

For those interested there is a video by Spring Board showing how the system in Wrexham could be working: