Sheffield city centre ‘bouncing back’ as figures show more than a million visitors

Civic leaders claim Sheffield city centre is ‘bouncing back’ after figures revealed more than a million people visited last month – the highest in three years.
Fargate, Sheffield.Fargate, Sheffield.
Fargate, Sheffield.

Data revealed a whopping 1,142,337 people visited the Fargate and Division Street areas in April – the highest level since the same month in 2016.  

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Fargate, Sheffield.Fargate, Sheffield.
Fargate, Sheffield.

Sheffield is also bucking the trend as nationally visitor numbers to town and city centres are said to be declining. 

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Council leaders heralded major events such as the World Snooker Championships and the Sheffield Half Marathon as reasons why people are populating the city centre. 

Other factors such as the Global Village Market, Easter Fairground the Sheffield Starflyer and Big Wheel have also been praised for attracting visitors. 

Shaffield Half Marathon 2019.Shaffield Half Marathon 2019.
Shaffield Half Marathon 2019.

Unseasonably warm weather, compared with last year’s freezing Beast From The East conditions, is another reason thought to explain the rise. 

Councillor Mazher Iqbal, cabinet member for business and investment at Sheffield City Council, said: “This is great news for Sheffield. We have big plans to improve Fargate and Division Street, and judging by these numbers, people are already needing no encouragement to work, shop and live here.

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“I believe the city centre continues to look better and better. All the new developments such as the new Heart Of The City scheme, the opening of Charter Square and Kommune, together with the fantastic events we have week on week in Sheffield shows the city centre is bouncing back. 

“This can only help attract even more investors and jobs to the city centre.”

The figures were compiled by a company called Springboard, which uses state-of-the-art cameras and data assessment tools to count footfall.  

Last month’s total of 1,142,337 was slightly higher than April 2018 in which 1,048, 358 were recorded.