‘Reassuring signs of recovery’ for Bristol city centre businesses

Increased spending, higher footfall and a boost to the nighttime economy are all signs the city centre is starting a post-pandemic recovery, according to new research.

Data released by Bristol’s three central business improvement districts (BIDs) reveal a total ‘in premises’ Visa spend of £274m across companies and venues in the BS1, BS2 and BS8 areas over the first six months of 2022, representing a 16 per cent increase from the same period last year.

While business leaders say the figures are an indicator that businesses in the city centre are showing “strong signs of recovery” there is still more work to be done to make up the drop since 2019, with a shortfall of more than £50m in spend from Q2 of 2019 to this year.

The data, commissioned, analysed and released by Bristol City Centre BID, Redcliffe & Temple BID and Broadmead BID, suggests free events and activities are proving “significantly important” in terms of high street recovery as they drive footfall and spend in the area.

The total ‘in premises’ Visa spend was £131.1m in Q1 of 2022 and £142.7m in Q2, representing a nine per cent rise from one quarter to the next.

Commenting on the research, Vicky Lee, head of Bristol City Centre BID, says: “This data shows that in Q1, we were heading in the right direction for a more prosperous year for our city’s businesses, particularly retail and hospitality that were hit hard by the pandemic. As we headed into Q2, the cost of living and inflation has had an impact on businesses and how they operate, but thankfully the data so far shows that these concerns have not affected consumer spend in the city centre.

“Whilst it is likely that consumers’ disposable income may have reduced, the importance of smaller ‘pick me up’ purchases and experiences such as shopping, meals out with friends and family and a night out in the city, are still high on people’s agenda.

“We will be using this data to understand and monitor the spend trends in the city centre to ensure we can continue to support businesses in the second half of the year. We need to ensure both day and nighttime economies are supported, encouraging workers back to their offices will be a key driver for increased midweek, daytime spend, along with autumn and winter events to attract visitors into the city.”

The nighttime economy has seen a boost in spending during the first half of this year – photo: Rob Browne

The city centre nighttime economy saw a £19m spend in Q1 and £20.5m in the second quarter of the year, with Bristol Light Festival credited as being a key driver of economic growth of the first three months, bringing in an additional £3.4m revenue and some 170,000 visitors.

International spend is also having a “huge impact” on Bristol’s city centre economy and recovery, according to the BID analysis teams who say this accounts for a total of £53.4m spent across the first six months of the year, with visitors from the USA accounting for the highest international spend in the city.

Increased spending, higher footfall and a boost to the nighttime economy are all signs the city centre is starting a post-pandemic recovery – photo: Martin Booth

Steve Bluff, head of Redcliffe & Temple BID, says: “In Q1, the city centre economy started to show signs of recovery, with more people wanting to visit and spend leisure time in the city, we started on a post-pandemic upward trajectory. Whilst we are seeing reassuring signs of recovery and quarterly increased spend in the city, there is still more work to be done.

“We know that when comparing Q2 of this year to Q2 2019, there is a difference and shortfall of over £50million in spend, if the city is to fully rebound and return to the levels seen before the pandemic then businesses need continued support through local, international and online spend.”

The Visa spend data is sourced from companies such as Virgin Media O2 and Visa to give researchers a “privacy-focused” understanding of how many people are visiting the city, their age groups, origin postcodes of visitors and their spend in the city centre.

Main photo: Andre Pattenden

Read more: Bristol’s nighttime economy leads recovery from pandemic

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