Christmas Business Boom in Loughborough

THE number of Sunday shoppers in Loughborough Town Centre hit a three-year high this Christmas, new figures have revealed.

The encouraging statistics, released by Charnwood Borough Council, show 44,181 people passed through Carillon Court Shopping Centre on the four Sundays leading up to Christmas.

In 2010, recorded footfall hit 37,729 and in 2009 footfall was 41,475.

This year’s Christmas lights switch on was also a record breaker with 13,459 people passing through the shopping centre compared with 12,167 in 2009 and 9,725 in 2010.

The figures are measured to gauge the impact of the Council and Loughborough Town Centre Partnership’s ‘Country Comes to Town’ programme which offered free Sunday parking and a range of fun family events to attract shoppers.

Councillor Paul Harley, Charnwood Borough Council’s Cabinet member for Leisure and Culture, said: “I think this is fantastic news. It clearly shows how the hard work and efforts of the Council and Town Centre Partnership have attracted more and more shoppers and visitors to the town centre.

“Our four-week Christmas programme offered up a variety of unique markets, fun, entertainment and games for all the family to enjoy and it has paid off.

“The figures also tell us that more and more people are choosing Loughborough as a Christmas shopping destination thanks to our marketing efforts with the Loughborough Echo and our offer of free parking.”

Baljit Kooner, manager of the Carillon Court Shopping Centre, said: “The light switch on was fab and we saw the highest footfall for the last three years.”

The footfall is measured by a sensor at Carillon Court which counts the number of people entering the centre.

The figures are based on the number of people who passed through the Carillon Court Shopping Centre on the four Sundays leading up to Christmas when the Council and Town Centre Partnership staged events.