Visitor Data is Key for Councils to Revitalise High Street and fill 58,000 Empty Shops

As new Levelling Up and Regeneration grants are being handed to local authorities across the UK to help revitalise high streets and fill empty shops, Place Informatics, the leading provider of footfall and location visitor behaviour data monitoring in the UK, believes that visitor data is vital to maximise the impact of these grants.

The data experts currently work with over 250 towns in the UK and have seen first-hand how visitor insights are key to understanding and informing on the most effective services or retail options for thousands of empty shops and struggling high streets.

Based on data analysis from the Office for National Statistics and the Local Data Company, a recent report* has estimated that there are around 58,000 empty high street stores across the UK. It is critical that councils that are awarded grants choose the services or retail options that increase footfall from the right catchment areas to help regenerate their community long term and revitalise these high streets. This is why so many councils are using detailed insights into visitor behaviour to ensure that they can make informed decisions.

Place Informatics visitor behaviour platform helps councils across the UK understand how their visitors are behaving, where they are being attracted from and most importantly what services they are utilising on their visit across retail sites, leisure venues, green spaces and car parks.

Clive Hall, CEO of Place Informatics, commented, “It is great to see that these new grants are supporting local councils which will kickstart initiatives in helping to fill empty retail outlets across the UK. We work closely with many councils who want to find evidence about their local population’s demographics and behaviour. Our detailed insights on visitor behaviour are proven to empower them with the data needed to understand what services or retail outlets will have the biggest impact, to increase their catchment area and drive footfall to their town centres.”