Shropshire shopping centres confident of strong festive figures

Crowds of shoppers descended on the centres in Shrewsbury and Telford as many high street retailers slashed prices in a bid to lure visitors in December.

It comes despite a challenging year for many retailers which have been hit by low consumer confidence and the continued rise of online shopping.

But Telford Shopping Centre manager Glynn Morrow said: "We have had a very busy Christmas and December as a whole.

"Our footfall has been consistently up since the opening of Northern Quarter earlier this year, with some weeks in excess of plus 20 per cent

"Early signs such as Black Friday and strong numbers through December indicate that at Telford we will have a very successful trading period. This will put us in a strong position ready for the opening of Fashion Quarter in 2019, with a new line-up of stores and some exciting announcements to come.

"Whilst on line shopping is seen as a convenient method for some, I think we have a balance between this and a growing shopper base that are looking to include leisure and turning to Telford centre as a destination for both."

Shrewsbury shopping centres manager Kevin Lockwood said: "The feedback so far has been generally positive and people are saying it seems busier than last year.

"I think having the extra weekend before Christmas helped as has not having the snow we had last December.

'Unique mix'

"I know everyone is saying high streets are dying but I believe Shrewsbury bucks that trend. We have got a unique mix of national retailers and independent businesses.

"There are obviously some interesting times ahead, but we will continue to work hard to sell Shrewsbury as a destination."

Meanwhile, national figures show British retailers saw a decline in Boxing Day shoppers for the third consecutive year.

Figures from retail intelligence specialists Springboard confirmed footfall fell by 3.1 per cent on the day after Christmas across high streets, retail parks and shopping centres.

The figures showed retail parks bore the brunt of the pain this year, recording a 7.2 per cent decline in shopper numbers.

Shopping centres stomached a five per cent fall, while high street footfall edged down 0.3 per cent.

Springboard said: "Many consumers who visited retail destinations on Boxing Day would have been doing so as part of a wider leisure experience, and the greater variety of restaurants and coffee shops in high streets enables shoppers to make the most of their trips and include lunch or coffee whilst shopping.

"Whilst the larger, newer centres have a good hospitality offer, smaller, older centres do not and so the options for eating out are very limited, which encourages shoppers into high streets."

The group put the poor performance in retail parks down to low consumer confidence, putting shoppers off from spend significant sums on large household goods or furniture.

It has been a torrid year for retailers with notable high street names such as HMV, Poundworld and Maplin falling into administration, Marks & Spencer and Debenhams announcing plans to shutter stores, while Superdry, Carpetright and Card Factory have all issued profit warnings.