City stores trade up to join UK shopping's top twenty

Published on Tuesday 13 May 2008 10:53

EDINBURGH has broken into the top 20 list of UK retail destinations after the amount spent by shoppers soared £70 million in the space of a year.

The league table, compiled by market research firm CACI, shows Edinburgh has climbed five places in what is seen as a barometer for the current state of the British high street.

It means that Edinburgh moves ahead of rival English cities including Bristol and Leicester.

Business leaders say although there is still a long way to go, the data is encouraging given the amount of work happening in the city centre.

Total retail expenditure in Edinburgh in 2007-8 was 920m, compared to 850m for 2006-7.

Glasgow slipped from the third slot last year to fourth this year, despite retail spending increasing from 1.9 billion last year to 2.1bn this year.

Councillor Tom Buchanan, convener of the city council's economic development committee, said: "I am pleased to see Edinburgh regain its position as one of the top 20 retail destinations in the British Isles, especially at a time when many people are facing an increasingly difficult financial environment, and are having to absorb extra costs.

"Clearly, the work the council and partners are undertaking to address the issues facing our city centre, such as developing the 'string of pearls' concept for investment and development, is already having an impact.

"However, we cannot be complacent. We have high aspirations for Edinburgh, and we need to continue working together to ensure Edinburgh retains its thriving and vibrant city centre and enhances its reputation as a premier retail destination."

Separate data from the city's footfall monitoring systems found that the number of pedestrians using Edinburgh's busiest city centre street, Princes Street, matched the average footfall figures recorded in the busiest streets of 12 competitor cities which also use the technology.

Slightly more than 300,000 people were tracked using Princes Street by the counters outside M&S in the period March 3 to March 10 – matching the UK average. But it is thought the figure could have been influenced by the Scotland-England rugby international, which was played on March 8.

Edinburgh is now ranked as the seventh-busiest out of 13 competitor cities that use the Springboard measuring system.

Above it are London, Dublin, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow and Newcastle.

And the Capital's busiest street in the first three months of the year was visited by more people than the busiest street in cities including Liverpool, Cardiff, Leeds and Norwich.

Ron Hewitt, the chief executive of the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, said: "This data is particularly good news because there is the so-called credit crunch going on, as well as tram work.

"This increase ahead of trams, the St James Quarter revamp, and the Haymarket transport hub is fantastic news. If we can do it in such difficult times it shows we're doing alright.

"I'd like to think that when the St James revamp and trams are complete we'll be well into the top 20 or even higher. We'll have the major stores, boutique stores and high-quality, well-known stores, as well as being more accessible to a larger population."

Average weekly pedestrian count at the five busiest locations in Edinburgh:

1. Princes St at M&S 270,938

2. Princes St at Carphone Warehouse 218,784

3. Princes St at Frasers 165,829

4. St Andrew Square at Harvey Nichols 112,440

5. High St at Radisson 85,837