Evening footfall soars in historic city thanks to campaign

EARLY-evening football in the historic city of Chester has soared since the launch of a Head Out Not Home campaign.

More than 141,000 people visited the city centre between 4pm and 9pm on Thursdays across a nine-week period from July until August – 22% more than last year’s figures for the same time.

The campaign was launched by the Business Improvement District to bridge the gap between the city’s daytime and evening economics.

Figures also found that monthly visitor numbers had increased by 20% to just under 2m.

BID Manager at CH1ChesterBID Carl Critchlow said: “Our Head Out Not Home campaign has had some amazing support – from our city partners, from residents and from visitors – and we’re delighted to see it has helped contribute towards bridging that important gap between the daytime and evening economies.

“Seeing the city centre booming this summer has been fantastic and we’re looking forward to carrying that momentum forward in the months ahead.

“We’re already focused on the build-up to Christmas and we’ve got some wonderful events and activities in the pipeline and of course, late night shopping will be back throughout the city centre on Thursdays from late November.”