City centre sales continue to soar

NEW figures show business in Swansea city centre is continuing to soar.

Statistics for June show sales were up 4.5% on the same month last year, beating the UK-wide figure by 2.7%.

An independent retail analysis company called Springboard put together the statistics for Swansea Council.

The figures also show June’s sales in Swansea city centre were up 6.6% from May.

Some of the city centre events in June included the Swansea Half Marathon and the Swansea Festival of Transport on two consecutive Sundays.

Cllr Robert Francis-Davies, Swansea Council’s Cabinet Member for Enterprise, Development and Regeneration, said: “These figures show consumer confidence is building in Swansea city centre, which is an encouraging sign because more spending potentially leads to more investment in future that will further benefit local residents and visitors.

“Our major roof refurbishment project at Swansea Market is nearing completion and businesses including Five Guys, Kaspas Desserts and Loungers Limited have also recently committed to opening units in the city centre. The combination of these developments with our ambitious proposals to regenerate the St David’s and Civic Centre sites means the city centre has an exciting future in store.

“We’ll also continue to organise as many high-quality events as possible in the city centre to attract more visitors, further support our traders and boost spending.”

Upcoming events in the city centre include an Italian Market on Oxford Street from Thursday August 20 to Sunday August 23 and a World Party event in Castle Square on Saturday August 22 to celebrate Swansea’s cultural diversity. This will include live entertainment and foods from Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Thailand, Poland and Ukraine.

Russell Greenslade, Chief Executive of Swansea BID (Business Improvement District), said: “This is very positive news for the city centre and its businesses. The events we sponsored in June, such as the Festival of Transport and Swansea Half Marathon, helped boost the all-important foot flow, which is the lifeblood of businesses during this time. We also experienced a rise on our NCP car parking offer numbers and in our Big Heart of Swansea loyalty card sign-ups during this period, with numerous businesses reporting robust trading. In addition to forthcoming council events, we also have Giant Games, a Pop-up Park and Student Lock-In events soon taking place to help maintain the positive momentum.”

Other figures for June show Swansea Council’s city centre ranger team, part-funded by Swansea BID, dealt with 2,335 matters during the month, ranging from assisting shoppers and businesses with queries to helping deliver large events.

Independent recognition of the rangers has also recently been given by the Association of Public Service Excellence (APSE) who have shortlisted the team as a finalist in their annual awards in the best street scene service category. This comes on top of the market being awarded the Best Large Indoor Market in Britain by NABMA (The National Association of British Market Authorities).