1. Classifying UK Retail Centres by Footfall Signatures #BDSU
Professor Cathy Parker, Institute of Place Management, Manchester Metropolitan
Dr Christine Mumford, School of Computer Science and Informatics, Cardiff University

3. UK online retail sales share
Centre for Retail Research (2016)

4. % of retail spend in UK town centres
Parliament (2014), Manchester Metropolitan University (2016)

5. “Multi-million pound Wrexham retail centre now a ghost town.”
(Daily Post, 29th August 2015)

6. Positive Reception Sees Wrexham Street Festival Become Regular Event
(Wrexham Matters, 2015)

7. “The change in retail is permanent not cyclical
“The change in retail is permanent not cyclical. Most town centres have lost their sense of purpose. Retail has ‘throttled out’ other uses.”
Distressed Retail Property Taskforce

9. Hourly footfall counts 24/7/365
156 UK town/city centres
Footfall data
Data from 2006
Hourly footfall counts 24/7/365

10. Approximate location of Springboard counters

11. Developing new classifications

12. Major city Regional Amount of multiple retail floorspace Sub-regional
town
town
Settlement type

13. Major city Sub-regional Mean average footfall Regional Major town town
Settlement type

14. Major city Regional centre Amount of multiple retail floorspace Town
Settlement size

16. K-Means Clustering (Monthly)
Mumford , Parker C, Ntounis and Dargan (2017)
Comparison
Holiday
Speciality
Multifunctional

18. Comparison signature
People come here predominantly to shop
Busiest in the run up to Christmas
People travel a considerable distance to visit
Wide range of retail choice, leisure, food and beverage
Strong retail anchor(s)
Strong presence of multiples and international brands
Depth and breadth of merchandising
Large catchment area
Accessible by choice of means of transport
Organise themselves to compete with other comparison towns and channels

20. Holiday signature
People come here for a holiday or a 'day out'
Busiest times are July and August - and days when the weather is good
People travel a considerable distance to visit
Focus on offering a good experience to visitors during the summer peak 
Attractive to tourists but may poorly serve local catchment
Organise themselves to increase and enhance their entertainment and leisure appeal

22. Speciality signature
People come here for the overall experience
Footfall rises steadily from Easter to end of August - and peaks again around Christmas time.
People stay longer here (increased dwell time).
Anchor(s) not retail - offer something unique and special
Attract visitors but serve local population
Organise themselves to protect and promote identity and positioning

24. People come for a mixture of everyday needs - shopping, accessing public transport, employment, education, services etc.
Multifunctional towns have higher footfall figures than than convenience towns.
People travel further to access multifunctional towns whilst convenience/community towns just serve their local population. 
Convenience/community towns organise themselves to manage accessibility, concentration, reliability, and customer service
Multifunctional towns should support network of surrounding centres

25. Understanding how people actually use our town has been a revelation!
(Sean Trainor, Ballymena Council Economic Development Manager)

26. Thank you for listening
Professor Cathy Parker
Manchester Metropolitan University
Dr Christine Mumford
Cardiff University