Manchester BID celebrates a year of higher footfall

MANCHESTER’S business improvement district (BID) has helped drive up footfall and average spend, according to its first annual report.

The Heart of Manchester BID was established last year and covers an area from King Street to Manchester Arndale and takes in Cross St, St Ann’s Square, New Cathedral Street, Market Street and part of Deansgate.

Around 380 businesses pay a levy on top of their rates which funds £1m of promotional initiatives a year for the next five years.

The BID said it has helped city centre retailers outperform the national average seven months out of the last 10, according to British Retail Consortium (BRC) figures, with retailers experiencing significant hikes in sales in June (14.3%), October (8.3%) and December (4.6%).

It said key events, such as the gardening festival Dig the City and Vogue magazine’s Fashion’s Night Out, had a “direct impact on footfall figures across the city’s retail core”. During August’s Dig the City footfall rose by 10.2%, outperforming a UK average of -0.6%.

At Christmas the city centre experienced its busiest December on record; with six million people visiting, up 40.8% year-on-year, compared to a national dip in footfall of -3.7% .

Jane Sharrocks, general manager at Selfridges’ Exchange Square and Heart of Manchester BID chair said: “The sales and footfall figures speak for themselves. While the last twelve months has been a challenging time for retail nationally, Manchester city centre has bucked the trend month after month.

“Manchester is an ambitious city with a strong retail mix and as the UK’s leading retail destination outside London, it’s completely logical for the city’s retailers to have a direct influence and work together to further enhance that position.”