When Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council invested in comprehensive footfall and foot-flow monitoring as a measure of town centre vitality and viability, it was not aware of its usefulness in tracking the impacts of COVID-19.
This case study prepared by the People & Places Partnership as part of the LGA’s revitalising town centres toolkit, shares learning from footfall and foot-flow monitoring in Nuneaton as an aid to town centre decision-making. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, footfall and foot-flow monitoring in Nuneaton was used to help in understanding the impacts of routine and responsive management, whilst aiding planning for long-term investment needs and demonstrating change. Since March 2020, it has also been invaluable in tracking the impacts COVID-19 through lockdown and subsequent reopening measures.
Footfall as a national indicator
In its guide to establishing a footfall baseline as part of recovery planning, the High Street Task Force recognise that counting footfall has become even more important in tracking the impacts of COVID-19. Footfall counting shows if and how customers are returning to town centres as they reopen. This, in turn, can guide the implementation of necessary interventions and measure their impact.
Tracking impacts of lockdown and reopening
In common with other towns across the country with existing monitoring systems, the footfall and foot-flow monitoring in Nuneaton became unexpectedly important in tracking the impacts of COVID-19 and informing local decisions during and following lockdown due to the global pandemic.
Not surprisingly, the data from footfall and foot-flow monitoring in Nuneaton showed a dramatic drop in footfall from late March 2020 followed by a steady increase through to early July and a more marked improvement thereafter. Total recorded town centre visits for the 5 months to mid-August 2020 were 1.1million, compared to 2.4million for the same period in 2019. Recorded visits in the second week of August following further easing of restrictions and new incentives, were, however, up to 24,336, which equated to 79% when compared to 30,749 in 2019.
The available data for Nuneaton provides other insights in to changing footfall trends including that the busiest time of day in the 5 months post-lockdown has shifted to 11am-12pm from 12-1pm in 2019.
Insights from changing foot-flow
The GEO-Sense footfall monitoring system used in Nuneaton, also enables the tracking of foot-flow journeys between locations. This foot-flow monitoring shows, for example, that whilst Nuneaton’s Market Place was the most popular first destination for town centre visitors in August 2019, it was reduced to the second most popular as it continued to fully reopen in August 2020. In contrast, the Market Place was the most popular first destination during lockdown in May 2019, as its food stalls remained trading.
The data shows little difference in average dwell times for the 5 months from lockdown, with a modest increase from 135 minutes in 2019 to 138 in to 2020. This dwell time may differently comprise of customers queuing rather than lingering in local cafes etc.
More information
Read the full case study on tracking Nuneaton’s footfall through the COVID-19 pandemic as part of the LGA’s updated, revitalising town centres toolkit, prepared by the People & Places Partnership.
You can also download a sample report on understanding Loughborough’s town centre footfall based on an analysis of GEO-Sense data by People & Places for LOVE Loughborough BID.
Find out about our people, places & proximity services developed jointly with Proximity Futures to help place-leaders understand more about managing and monitoring returning town centre footfall.
Visit our Beyond COVID-19 web pages for more resources on managing town centres during reopening and recovery.
Learn about People & Places’ joined-up approach to revitalisation provided by our ‘specialities’ in our guide to ‘‘bringing facts and faces to town centres’.
