FOOTFALL ON THE RISE, NEW BUSINESSES OPENING AND BIG OPPORTUNITIES AHEAD

A message from our Chief Executive Steve Hughes

We come to the end of another year in Plymouth City Centre on a positive note with the opening of newly improved public spaces, footfall rising, new businesses opening and a huge increase in the number of city centre events.

So, whilst we appreciate the challenges you have all faced, including disruption from the improvement works and increases in business costs, we have reasons to be optimistic about the future of the city centre and our businesses.

Here are just some of the successes of the last year:

• Footfall year to date is up by 4%, compared with a southwest average of -2.2% and a UK high street average of up 1.6%. Footfall last week was up 40% year on year and 12% up on the previous week

• Increase in number of City Centre Company events from six to 25, including the return of Wimbledon on the Big Screen combined with a pop-up Padel Court on the Piazza

• A revived Flavour Fest with a packed Piazza and new entertainment zone on the Civic Piazza, attracting an estimated 100,000 visitors over three days, boosting the city economy by £3m

• The West End Carnival, attracting an extra 7,000 visitors on the day to support the area’s independent businesses

• The creation and branding of Old Town Square in partnership with Drake Circus with lamp post banners, street-art style signage and painted comms boxes and a wide variety of live music and entertainment

• The opening of zone 1 of Armada Way, including the new amphitheatre space with two days of extra entertainment

• The installation of a beautifully decorated real Christmas tree in Old Town Square

• The creation of a new look Christmas Market with new operators and German-style bar and fully covered seating area

• The launch of the Love Plymouth Gift Card at no cost to BID businesses, aimed at keeping spend in the city

• Extra police and PARC patrols thanks to extra funding secured by the BID from the Police and Crime Commissioner

In the New Year, the Community Diagnostic Centre in Colin Cambell Court will open which will be a catalyst for regeneration in the West End and provide a boost for our businesses around Plymouth Market.

The Armada Way and Royal Parade schemes will both be completed and work will progress on the conversion of The Civic into a City College Plymouth skills hub and 140 apartments.

Homes England are working with the City Council on plans for thousands of new city centre homes and the announcement of a £4.4bn investment in the dockyard will create thousands of jobs, providing a huge boost to the Plymouth economy.

You can read more about this here: Launching Team Plymouth: A united city, driving defence innovation and opportunity for all | PLYMOUTH.GOV.UK

Babcock have announced plans for a city centre office block for 2,000 workers. Imagine the benefits that will bring for the profile of the city centre and your businesses.

The city also has a refreshed brand, with a new a narrative and visuals to promote Plymouth as destination for business, growth, education, culture and the arts and city living. Red more here: Plymouth city brand | DNCO

The scale of investment and growth and move to a more diverse city centre gives us confidence that better times lie ahead for the city centre and all our businesses.

I would like to wish you all a Happy Christmas and look forward to working with you and our partners in 2026 to deliver a more modern and vibrant city centre for us all.