Latest News | 17 September 2020
City confidence grows
The high street in Derby is returning to pre-pandemic activity levels more rapidly than other cities in the Midlands region according to a national report.
New research by leading think tank, the Centre for Cities, showing average footfall levels in city centres for the last full week of August, indicate an overall recovery index of 93% for Derby. This compares with 59% in Nottingham and 52% in Birmingham. At the same time, offline sales in Derby city centre have also risen to 85% of their pre-lockdown figure.
John Forkin, managing director of Marketing Derby commented; “We have to treat these figures with some caution as they are contingent on pre-pandemic levels. However, the city's recovery plan is to build confidence and initiatives such as Bondholder Derby City Council's Market Place Al Fresco initiative will have contributed to increased footfall. Our experience is that investors welcome any positive news and topping a league table can only help.”
The Centre for Cities Recovery Tracker also looks at how cities are recovering from Coronavirus and shows that, although all cities experienced a sharp drop in activity as a result of lockdown, some are seeing it return faster than others.
Amongst its sources, the Tracker uses anonymised mobile phone data, updated on a monthly basis. The research also looks at consumer spending and the return of workers to the city centre, with breakdowns for weekend and night-time economies.
Plans for the follow up to the Market Place initiative will be revealed by Derby City Council shortly.
