Commonwealth Games brings Glasgow big trade boost

The Commonwealth Games has brought a significant increase in trade around Glasgow. Picture: Lisa Ferguson

Businesses have claimed that the feel-good effect of the Games, combined with the influx of tourism in to the town, has meant trade and revenues are up.

With the halfway point just reached, city hotels are said to have tripled their trade compared to July 2013 – with taxis and retailers also reporting a significant boost to business,

Denis MacCann, co-chair of the Greater Glasgow Hotels Association (GGHA), said: “Every aspect of the weekend was a huge success. Revenues during July 2014 for the hotel sector are likely to show year-on-year growth of between 200 per cent and 300 per cent.”

Stephen Flynn, vice chairman of Glasgow Taxis Limited, said that the weekend was “very busy” for cabbies, with a 20 per cent increase in pre-booked fares compared to last year.

The carnival atmosphere that has developed in the city has had a positive impact on the restaurant sector during the opening days, with some restaurants even having to replenish stock on Sunday night.

James Rusk, deputy chair of the Glasgow Restaurant Association, described the impact as “beyond expectations”.

He said: “Everyone has done an incredible job to make the restaurants extremely busy. It’s like Black Friday before Christmas, with weekend sales across the restaurant industry increasing by at least 25 per cent.

“Restaurants have been ready to cope with the demand, but it has been beyond expectations and some restaurants had to close early on Sunday night because they had sold out of food. Emergency supplies are being brought in and the whole trade is pulling together to help each other.”

The St Enoch Centre shopping mall has also defied expectation with an increase in footfall over the weekend.

Centre general manager Anne Ledgerwood said: “Footfall in the St Enoch Centre on Sunday during the marathon was up by 11,000 people - which is far better than we were forecasting because our car park was closed.

“Overall, our footfall has increased by 6 per and we’re delighted that people have not been put off from shopping.

But Ms Ledgerwood, who is also chair of the City Centre Retail Association, said that it was Glasgow’s cafes and fastfood outlets that were enjoying a real boom at the moment: “Retailers in the city have said that they’re seeing an increase in food sales – the food outlets in the shops are the real winners at the moment. Sales across other areas are like-for-like compared to last year, but restaurants and cafes are definitely up.

Leader of Glasgow City Council, Cllr Gordon Matheson said: “With Glasgow making such a wonderful impression on the world stage, I believe we can go on to convert that short-term bounce into a long-term benefit.”