Retail chief claims Leeds can ‘bounce back’ as city centre footfall down 90 percent in March

The daily number of people in Leeds City Centre at the end of March was only a tenth of what it was three weeks earlier, according to statistics released to the Datamill North database.

But the head of an organisation aimed at getting shoppers into the centre of the city said that, while it is not known when lockdown measures introduced last month will be lifted, the city should look ahead to how it responds once they are.

Andrew Cooper is head of the Leeds Business Improvement District (BID), an organisation funded by city centre businesses to help bring shoppers and diners into the area.

He claimed city centre footfall from a recent Saturday was more than 93 percent down year-on-year, but added this could be seen as a positive.

He said: “We would normally say this is a catastrophic figure, bit it shows people are heeding the advice and staying away. They are taking on government advice.”

According to figures released by Leeds City Council, Friday footfall measured on Leeds City Centre’s six busiest areas fell from 143,892 on March 6, to just 15,763 on March 27.

Briggate saw the most dramatic drop, from a 35,954 total on the 6th, to just 3,351 on the 27th.

Mr Cooper added that, while most city centre shops remain closed, some food and pharmacy outlets remained open for city centre residents and key workers in the area.

Although it is not known when the lockdown will end, he said the BID was already in discussions with events that could take place once the lockdown is over.

“We don’t have a crystal ball,” he said. “And we don’t want to be irresponsible by jumping the gun, but we want to work with businesses to see when we might do once this is over.

“We are all in the same boat, but we want Leeds to bounce back and come back in a resolute way.”

Leader of Leeds City Council Councillor Judith Blake said: “Obviously these are extremely uncertain times, and no-one can predict when the lockdown and social distancing measures will be lifted.

“Throughout the COVID-19 outbreak, any actions we have taken have been fully in-line with Government advice and guidance and this will be the case when the time comes to consider actions to build city centre footfall up again.

“In the meantime as a council, we remain firmly committed to doing everything we possibly can to help our businesses get through this difficult time, and if we remain resolute and united to defeat this virus together we will succeed.

“For example, the council has now issued business rate grants totalling £51,550,000 to 3,550 businesses in the city receiving support of between £10,000 and £25,000 and set up a dedicated webpage offering guidance and information to businesses at www.leeds.gov.uk/coronavirus/business”

The latest footfall figures follows data released earlier this year, which revealed total Christmas footfall fell in Leeds city centre by almost 700,000 in just two years.

Figures showed the number of people in the city centre from October 16 to December 31 fell from 11,694,291 in 2017 to 10,997,126 in 2019 – a drop of almost six per cent.