the need for
        Milestone?

Never before have so many fundamental changes in the way we live and shop taken place at the same time.

From the maturing of out of town shopping, to the diversification of our retail offer and the emergence of multi-channel purchasing opportunities these changes, cumulatively, are leading to a long term decline in footfall in our towns and cities.

If towns and cities are to continue to prosper and remain at the heart of our communities, then it is critical to understand trends in performance so appropriate strategies can be implemented to ensure their vitality and viability.

Indeed, the need to monitor performance has long been recognised in planning national policy for town centres. However, the process of data collation is fraught with difficulties due to inconsistencies in definitions and the plethora of sources.

These inconsistencies have made it difficult to collect relevant and timely data and to analyse and present it effectively. Moreover, the lack of an accepted approach has meant that even if data is acquired, it has still not been possible to undertake benchmarking which is so important in the understanding of performance.

The provision of a robust, comprehensive and meaningful framework for monitoring and benchmarking town and city centre performance is the overriding aim of Milestone.

 

 

Footfall in UK high streets has declined by around 5% annually for the year to date, compared with a year on year increase in customer numbers of 5% in UK 1 out of town shopping locations.

Source: ATCM-Springboard National High Street Index; Springboard Retail Park Index