Rugby World Cup draws in shoppers

According to the latest research from the British Council of Shopping Centres’ Footfall Monitor, shopping centres and retail parks located in regions which hosted Rugby World Cup matches have benefitted from an increase in visitor numbers around games.

Nine in twelve UK regions saw a positive increase in visitors in October when compared to September.

The greatest increase was experienced in the East Midlands, which saw a 9.3%, 7.9% and 4.6% year-on-year rise in the number of shoppers passing through shopping centre and retail park gates on 4, 6 and 11 October, when games were hosted at the Leicester City Stadium.

The North West and Yorkshire-Humber areas of England also experienced double digit increases compared with the previous month.

Birmingham reported positive growth of 9.4% in October compared with the same month last year.  This continued the momentum of increased footfall seen in September 2015 on the back of two games played at Villa Park, the launch of the new Grand Central shopping centre and the re-opening of the extensively refurbished New Street railway station.

The increase in retail footfall during the tournament also coincided with an increase in the UK’s night-time economy, which experienced a 5.2% upturn in October compared with 2014.

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