Summer festivals give Brindleyplace its busiest ever quarter

BIRMINGHAM’S Brindleyplace has recorded its strongest quarter in terms of visitor levels for the last 12 months – and its busiest summer on record.

The mixed-use development attracted almost one million people between July and September – an increase of 200,000 compared to the first quarter.

The 24% increase in footfall has been attributed to numerous festivals and community events taking place during the summer, including the live screening of Andy Murray winning Wimbledon.

The most successful community event was the Outdoor Film Festival, which took place in July. This resulted in an extra 12,575 people visiting the estate.

Additionally, a number of restaurants on the estate saw profit levels increase by up to 25% during the festival.

There were also a record number of visitors to its website, with web traffic up 70% in July compared with the same month last year.

Lydia Ellis, destination marketing manager at Brindleyplace, said: “Brindleyplace remains one of the top leisure destinations in Birmingham and these statistics demonstrate just how popular the estate is with those living, working and visiting the city centre.

“Hosting free events is incredibly important to Brindleyplace as it allows us to bring together both the local community and our business tenants.”

The estate, which is also predicting a bumper Christmas – with an as yet, unnamed world record attempt, is now looking to next year’s events programme.

Deutsche Bank, which is expanding into Five Brindleyplace with the opening of a new trading floor, is continuing as sponsor of the Dragonboat Festival but new sponsorship is being sought for both the Outdoor Film Festival and Chilli Festival.