Buoyant close to 2015 for Bristol retailers

Retailers in Bristol are positive for 2016 after posting positive figures for the Christmas period. The Galleries increased its footfall by 1% over the festive period while big brands at the Mall reported “significant sales uplift”.

It comes in the wake of mixed results from national retailers. John Lewis posted a 5.1% increase in sales and Debenhams beat expectations with a 3.5% rise, but Next, Marks and Spencer and Argos all reported sales slumps. 

Colin Lang, Centre Manager of The Galleries said: “During the festive season, our peak day saw some 60,000 customers visit the centre. Overall The Galleries had a very good year, with footfall up 1%, outperforming the UK trend by 2.5%; the average sales uplift for retailers was +3%. Online sales continue to increase, however most of our retailers have embraced Click & Collect to ensure customers still come to their store to purchase.”

“The festive period is consistently the busiest time of the year and we are pleased to confirm that here at The Mall shoppers have been out in their thousands, with visitor numbers up on the same time last year,” said Alison Niven, Centre Director at The Mall at Cribbs Causeway. “Many of our big brands reported significant uplifts in sales. Particularly popular gifts this year have been jewellery and lingerie.

“The Boxing Day sales proved incredibly popular this year with thousands of shoppers rushing to the centre to take advantage of the massive discounts on offer. Many of our big brands have experienced huge footfall numbers over the course of the day.”

John Hirst at Destination Bristol who acts as spokesman for the Bristol Shopping Quarter incorporating Broadmead, Cabot Circus and says patterns fluctuate annually: “Each year the trading patterns change and in 2015 this was no different. We noticed that business picked up significantly earlier than normal and November was a quieter month than we had hoped. December as you can imagine was the busiest month but there was no real pattern, it didn’t build day by day, some days busier than expected and some days not.

“The impact of the internet has been with us for many years and we do know that our customers have a credible online option. High streets in the UK are far from dead. Overall sales showed a small increase versus last year, footfall was slightly down with each customer spending more than they did last year.”

Retailers are bullish about the year ahead. “Consumer confidence, as well as retailer confidence, is higher now than it has been for a while and we are positive about the outlook for 2016,” Colin continues. “All in all, 2016 looks to be a very positive year, with a number of new retailers opening in the Galleries this Spring.”

Meanwhile, results from Business West’s local business survey of almost 300 firms across Bristol, Bath and the West of England found that domestic and international sales increased at the end of the year after a downturn in the summer. Almost two thirds of businesses reported that they are confident for the year ahead.

Domestic sales increased by seven points to 45% and export sales by four points to 33%. 

Commenting on the survey results James Durie, Chief Executive of the Bristol Chamber of Commerce and Initiative, part of Business West, said: 

“These results provide some positive news after we saw decreases across the board in the summer. With domestic and international sales on the up this quarter, you can see why almost two thirds of businesses tell us they are feeling confident.

“Although we have seen a small pick up in the overall economic outlook after slightly disappointing results last quarter, marginal drops in recruitment and cashflow are cause for concern, and with most indicators below levels seen this time last year there are warning signs of potential troubles ahead.

“This research, along with the Chancellor’s warning that the UK faces a ‘cocktail’ of serious threats from a slowing world economy, makes it vital that the government makes 2016 a year of action on fundamental issues such as infrastructure and skills which are holding businesses productivity back.” 

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