Leading community shopping centre investor Ellandi has reported much improved footfall and trading from its £1bn portfolio that covers 29 shopping centres across the UK, with major improvements in footfall in the final run up to Christmas and on Boxing Day.  

As shoppers made convenient last minute purchases at their local town centres, footfall in the Christmas week commencing Monday 21 December was 2.9% up.  

With post-Christmas sales in full-flow, footfall soared by 8.6% on Boxing Day across the portfolio with Schemes in Chatham, Kettering, Gloucester, Great Yarmouth and Romford posting significant increases in comparison to 2014. 

“The advent of Black Friday has obviously changed the way some customers organise their shopping at Christmas but at Ellandi our community centres have been enjoying a very strong autumn and winter,” commented Andrew Buckley, Director of Research and Analytics at Ellandi.  

“Ellandi Centres are strong on value and convenience and this has been proven to be strong motivation in attracting shoppers, helping to increase our footfall and store takings. It is evident that consumers are looking to get the maximum value from their Christmas spending whilst benefitting from the close proximity of our schemes, rather than focus all their spending in out of town locations and regional centres.” 

“In a year where recent weather has been so unseasonably mild and shopping patterns continue to evolve, the consumer has really benefitted. Obviously, it is inevitable that some shoppers have been holding out for the sales. I’m pleased that our strategy to create destinations at the heart of the community, allowing customers to shop efficiently and cost-effectively is, as reflected in our encouraging Boxing Day figures, proving to be so successful."