ESSENTIAL TRENDS BID MARKET INTELLIGENCE ISSUE 69 JUNE Princes Street, Edinburgh

Transcription

1 ESSENTIAL TRENDS BID MARKET INTELLIGENCE ISSUE 69 JUNE 2016 Princes Street, Edinburgh

2 Introduction Welcome to the June edition of Essential Trends May continues to be a challenging month for the city with both footfall and retail sales experiencing falls against last year. Yet again, the hospitality and leisure sector continues to perform exceptionally well in the city, reporting a 9.4% increase on sales. Whilst the closure of all of the St James Centre, apart from John Lewis, would undoubtedly be a factor in the retail sales figures, it may well facilitate a change in the spread of footfall across the city centre. This will be monitored closely over the coming months as the city adjusts to the closure of such a major retail site. Summer months always bring significant footfall to the city with our fantastic festivals and tourist offering; hopefully this will assist the retail sector deliver better strong results over the coming months. Roddy Smith Chief Executive Contents Footfall Page 3 Sales Monitors Page 11 Parking Page 13 Convention Bureau Page 16 Edinburgh Airport Page 18

3 ESSENTIAL TRENDS PAGE 3 Edinburgh footfall index Edinburgh footfall figures for May 2016 are down by -4.6% compared to May 2015 but showed an increase of 1.4% compared to April The UK average decreased by -1.9% compared to last month and decreased year on year by -3.2%. Princes Street at Marks & Spencer s was the busiest spot in the city centre with 1,077,797 people counted during May 2016, the last month in which figures are available. This represents an increase of 3.3% on May Monthly pedestrian numbers in the city centre follow an annual trend. They increase to their highest level of the year in August and fall to the lowest monthly totals during January and February before starting to increase again over spring and into the summer months. Footfall on Princess Street increased by 7.8% between April and May The tables below show footfall in the City Centre and a breakdown by counter area. The daily information for the previous month is also presented in the charts. The UK footfall Index shows a decrease of -1.9% between April and May 2016, and footfall decreased by -3.2% compared to May 2015.

4 ESSENTIAL TRENDS PAGE 4 Helen Dickinson, Director General, British Retail Consortium, commenting on the UK footfall said: We know from our recent data that it s online, rather than stores, that has driven May s sales upturn. Footfall up and store sales down gives credence to the trend of an increasing use of the high street for leisure activities and the researching of purchases made online either later or on the move through mobile devices.

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8 ESSENTIAL TRENDS PAGE 8 Day and night time pedestrian traffic in the Essential Edinburgh BID area In May 2016 annual comparable footfall was down by a very small -1.6% in the BID area on last year, but footfall in the evening period improved on last year. Compared to last year footfall has shown an overall decrease in May This hides some variation which we can see by breaking the day down into three periods: morning; core retail hours; and evening hours. The most noticeable change in April 2016 was the 2.2% decrease in the core retail hours on last year. The early morning period fell by 1.7%, but the evening period recorded a small increase of 0.6% on last year. The following charts show the change in footfall over four different three hour periods. Around nine out of every ten visitors (87%) in the city centre are recorded over this 12 hour period. The largest change in footfall in the city centre compared to last year occurred in evening period after 2pm. where footfall decreased by 3.5%.

9 ESSENTIAL TRENDS PAGE 9 The change this May compared to last year shows a decrease in footfall numbers across three of the four-hour interval periods. In the time period after 5pm. footfall was relatively unchanged recording a very small increase of 0.01%, between 8am and 11am footfall decreased by 1.2%. The after 11am time period decreased by 2.1% compared to last year and the largest decrease occurred in the after 2am time period, as mentioned on page 10. Note: BID area annual comparison includes counter locations: FCUK George Street; Jenners Rose Street; M&S Princes Street; Natwest George Street; Tiso Rose Street; and McDonalds South St Andrew Street.

10 ESSENTIAL TRENDS PAGE 10 Day and night time pedestrian traffic in the Essential Edinburgh BID area cont...

11 ESSENTIAL TRENDS PAGE 11 Sales Monitors for April 2016 Edinburgh retail sales were down -5.4% in May 2016 compared to this month in This means that Edinburgh s retailers performed worse than their Scottish peers as the Scottish average fell only -0.3% on a year earlier; in the entire UK sales were up a whisker at 0.5% growth. Retailers participating in the Retail Monitoring Programme reported these figures for May The figures for Edinburgh are based on a sample of city centre retailers. The figures for Scotland and the UK were reported from the BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor and the BRC Scottish Retail Sales Monitor. Hospitality businesses that take part in the Hospitality Monitoring Programme reported an increase in sales of 9.4%. The figures downward trend can partly be explained with the closure of shops in St James Centre and lower footfall in this part of the city centre as a result; however, department stores at other parts of the city centre suffered year-on-year declines as well. Some independent smaller shops noted higher turnouts; however, as they trade on smaller levels (in terms of floor space) their figures don t weigh as much as those from bigger department stores in the model we apply when calculating these average figures. David McCorquodale, head of accountancy firm and SRC survey sponsor KPMG s UK retail sector practice, said: Rays of sunshine boosted Scottish sales in May,

12 ESSENTIAL TRENDS PAGE 12 providing some long-sought relief for retailers. Outdoor living, and health and beauty performed well as consumers sought to soak up the rays outside. Fashion also had a better month as the weather provided the impetus to purchase, and promotional activity helped convert the sales. The grocery sector enjoyed a better performance with greater volumes, even though price deflation still meant that, in value terms, total food sales declined. SRC director David Lonsdale, commenting on the UK and Scottish figures said: These figures are a welcome improvement on April s rather poor results. However, despite one month s positive data, the retail market in Scotland continues to struggle to show sustained growth, Grocery sales continue to be weak. Despite the relatively improved performance, total in-store sales in Scotland still declined, providing evidence that the sector, as a whole, still has its challenges. In particular, the introduction of the National Living Wage has significantly impacted overheads and, although sunnier weather brings short-term gains to retailers, in the long-term productivity improvements and customer focus, coupled with increased consumer confidence, is still needed for survival. You are sent this information before publication in Essential Trends if you agree to participate in the City Centre Monitoring Project. For more information about how to participate in the Tunover Monitoring Project please contact Tom Mathar, Research Manager at LJ Research, who manage this project on our behalf: Tom@ ljresearch.co.uk or

13 ESSENTIAL TRENDS PAGE 13 Parking Index: data April 2016 Parking is important for businesses in the city centre and the information below shows the number of times and length of time each parking bay is used during the chargeable period. The higher the turnover of paid parking spaces the more opportunities for shoppers to find a space. In the New Town there are 959 bays in zones 1A and 2, which covers the Essential Edinburgh BID area. It should be noted that the average daily number of transactions per bay during trading hours and the average length of time parked are derived from transactions at parking ticket machines, the number of which varies throughout the year. The relatively low number of daily transactions per bay is likely to be due to the usage of the bays by holders of resident s parking permits. In the New Town over May 2016, the average turnover of parking spaces per day was 1.8. This compares to 2.0 in the Old Town, 1.6 in the West End and 0.8 in the East End. Parking utilisation Shoppers looking to park their car are more likely to find a space in the streets that are less utilised. It is clear that George Street had the highest levels of utilisation. This means that the parking bays were used much more than the average of the bays in other streets. Thistle Street, North Caste Street, St

14 ESSENTIAL TRENDS PAGE 14 Andrew Square, West Register Street, and Queen Street were all used more than average for parking. The other streets are used less than average for parking with Glenfinlas Street having the lowest utilisation of paid parking spaces within the New Town. This table reflects the levels of usage of parking bays during the times when parking charges are levied (Monday Saturday 8:30 am 5:30pm in areas with lower parking ticket sales and 8:30am 6:30pm in areas with higher ticket sales. For real time information on utilisation rates in off-street car parks follow this link:

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16 ESSENTIAL TRENDS PAGE 16 Edinburgh s Conferences Marketing Edinburgh is the organisation dedicated to promoting Edinburgh to the world, and encompasses a Convention Bureau and Film Office. Business Tourism Convention Edinburgh attended IMEX 2016 on the VisitScotland stand. Pre scheduled appointments were up on last year with over 40 appointments made on the stand. The value of enquiries to date is 35 million. Convention Edinburgh also had the opportunity to present on stand to an invited group of international association clients, and attend 7 additional events including the annual BestCities client dinners and Press Breakfast. Convention Edinburgh carried out a sales trip with Apex Hotels and Prestige Venues and Events during May 17th -19th. During this time, we met with 10 clients that resulted in a potential 8.6 million economic impact. On this 20th anniversary year of the Edinburgh Ambassador Programme Convention Edinburgh held a focus group with 10 key ambassadors to discuss and receive feedback on the programme and explore future plans. From the evening s conversation several points are now being actioned to ensure the programme continues to support academic and professionals in attracting conferences to the city. From April 2015 to March 2016, Convention Edinburgh alongside its members has confirmed 206 conferences, attracting just over 74,000 delegates to the city between 2015 and 2021 with an economic benefit of over 94.3 million. Since April 2016, Convention Edinburgh has secured 13 new conferences with a combined economic benefit of just over 8 million. Film Edinburgh June is very much film month for Edinburgh. The city has not only hosted a Film Festival, but also several productions. Edinburgh International Film Festival selected four films that Film Edinburgh has been involved with, including Opening Gala Tommy s Honour, which was made in the Edinburgh city region last year, with offices in Edinburgh and locations in East Lothian and the Scottish Borders, and The Correspondence by Italian director Giuseppe Tornatore (Cinema Paradiso) starring Jeremy Irons and Olga Kurylenko which puts Edinburgh city centre on the screen. Turning to filming, feature film Churchill, starring Brian Cox and

17 ESSENTIAL TRENDS PAGE 17 John Slattery, made use of Calton Hill, Rutland Square and Cramond, and the sequel to Trainspotting has been making appearances in several locations in the city centre and suburbs, including a somewhat over-subscribed nightclub sequence. We have also had several light entertainment shows making use of Edinburgh s locations: the American equivalent of Location Location Location - House Hunters International - in Edinburgh; X-factor auditions at the Assembly Rooms; My Kitchen Rules, a cookery competition show, in Colinton and Portobello; Ladies of London for BBC Worldwide at Dundas Castle with a visit to The Dome and the Grassmarket; and there have been commercials for RBS, Vero Moda fashion, NHS, Busy Bee stationery and Skyscanner. We have had a wonderful response to our ESPC piece about location filming with over 200 property owners getting in touch. Film Edinburgh is always looking for new locations of all sorts, be they homes or offices, landscapes or otherwise, and would be delighted to hear from anyone interested in the possibility of location filming. Find out more at filmedinburgh.org/register. Film Edinburgh is the film office for Edinburgh, East Lothian and the Scottish Borders, working on behalf of the Council to promote the area as a filming destination. Upcoming Conferences Conferences which will take place during July, August and September 2016 have a combined value of over 22.5 million and will attract over 14,800 delegates. These include: Confirmed Conferences July 2016, International Environmetrics Society, 250 delegates July 2016, International Council of Systems Engineering, 900 delegates August 2016, Edinburgh Anaesthesia Festival 2016, 180 delegates August 2016, Turing Festival 2016, 1000 delegates

18 ESSENTIAL TRENDS PAGE 18 RECORD MAY PASSENGER NUMBERS HIGHLIGHT NEED FOR LET S GO FURTHER CONSULTATION Edinburgh Airport has today announced the latest passenger numbers showing 1,111,377 passengers used in the airport in May. This is an 8.5 % increase on May 2015, making this the busiest ever May at the airport. In 2013 and 2014 July and August were million passenger months at Edinburgh Airport. Last year May, June, July, August, September and October were million passenger months. So Far in 2016 April and May have been million passenger months. Welcoming May s passenger figures, Gordon Dewar, Edinburgh Airport s Chief Executive, said: May s record breaking passenger figures make this another great month at Edinburgh Airport. This is great news for Scotland s connectivity and the economy at large. But being on course for a record seventh consecutive millionpassenger months also underlines the need for Edinburgh Airport to adapt so we can accommodate the ever increasing number of people wanting to fly in and out of Scotland s Capital city. We need to modernise and improve Edinburgh Airport in a way that maximises the benefits for all of Scotland and minimises the impact on local communities. That is why this week we launched Let s Go Further - a consultation aimed at gaining responses from the public that will help us inform the design of any potential future flight paths. We want everyone to know they have the opportunity to have their say on the positioning of potential future

19 ESSENTIAL TRENDS PAGE 19 flight path changes. As of Monday [27th June] a leaflet drop to over 640,000 doors commences. We are also targeting 900,000 people through TV advertising of as well as an outdoor advertising campaign in arterial routes across Edinburgh and in national and local newspapers adverts. We ll also be engaging with community groups to help us have discussions in local communities. We are absolutely committed to undertaking a robust and meaningful consultation process. Increase in International was mainly due to the new routes that have launched at EDI over the last year. easyjet s new Stuttgart (launched in Nov 15), Vienna and Venice services (launched Feb 16) boosted passenger numbers vs May More flights operated to Amsterdam, Milan and Berlin. Ryanair s Copenhagen service was new from November Flights operating to Dublin were fuller, and more flights operated to Barcelona, Alicante, Malta, Palma de Mallorca and Krakow, boosting passenger numbers compared to May Etihad operated daily in May , it launched on the 8th June Last May Vueling only operated services to Barcelona, in May 2016 they also operated services to Rome Fiumicino which launched on 29 March (3 per week) and Paris Orly which launched on 12 March (4 per week). New routes launched included: Transavia Paris Orly 22 April (4 per week) Finnair Helsinki on 18 April (up to 5 per week) Jet2.com Vienna on 29 April (2 per week) Jet2.com Heraklion on 27 May (2 per week) Jet2.com Kefalonia on 25 May (1 per week) Jet2.com Larnaca on 25 May (1 per week) Jet2.com launched Tenerife, Gran Canaria and Lanzarote in February so these also contributed to strong May growth. These are all new from Jet2 from Edinburgh and are the first of the 12 new routes they launch from EDI this year. Gordon Robertson, Director of Communications or gordon_robertson@edinburghairport.com

20 ESSENTIAL TRENDS To contact Essential Edinburgh: 139 George Street Edinburgh, EH2 4JY t: +44 (0) e: Essential Edinburgh. To contact the City of Edinburgh Council t: +44 (0) e: