Chesterfield’s £2m Summer Holiday Pie
- Spencer-Ryan
- Aug 17
- 3 min read
We’re halfway through the school holidays — and there could still be £1m on the table for Chesterfield businesses
The summer holidays are now around halfway through and whilst the school holidays might traditionally be viewed as a quieter period for some businesses, our latest Chesterfield town-centre footfall analysis suggests something rather different.
During this period the increased footfall and changing demographic of those visiting the town centre could be result in a potential £2 million summer holiday bonus pot for retail and hospitality businesses.
More importantly, we’re only halfway through it! That means there could still be around £1 million of potential additional spend available for local businesses to compete for over the remainder of the holidays.
So, what's in the pie?
We've been tracking Chesterfield town-centre footfall and visitor behaviour throughout the school holiday period.
Our findings so far show:
· Weekday footfall is around 14% above the year-to-date average.
· Groups of four or more are up by around 38%.
· Families of three or more are particularly prominent between 13:00 and 15:00.
And perhaps most interestingly, a significant proportion of these larger groups are heading towards fast food, restaurants, café’s and drinks outlets.
This isn't simply more people walking around town. It's a change in who is visiting and how they are spending their time.
Turning footfall into pounds
By using our sampling and survey data we've captured over the last 20 months and aligning that to data from payment providers and publicly available sources. We've modelled footfall and spending trends to understand customer behaviours, how this differs from a "normal" period and identify the opportunity to local businesses.
This is where it gets interesting.
The question for Chesterfield businesses is therefore not:
"Are people coming into town?" - The data suggests they are.
The question is:
"How much of the £1m that's still available can we capture?"
Who gets the biggest slice?
Our observations suggest that food and drink businesses are particularly well positioned.
Families and larger groups are increasingly visible around lunchtime, creating an opportunity for:
Fast food
Cafés
Drinks businesses
Restaurants
Treats and dessert businesses
But there is also an opportunity for retail and leisure businesses.
A family visiting for lunch might then browse shops, buy clothing, visit an attraction or spend money on other activities.
The longer they stay, the greater the potential value of each visit.
The big 1pm-3pm opportunity
One of the clearest patterns we're seeing is the increase in larger family groups between 1m and 3pm.
That's a very different proposition from simply having more people in town at 10am.
Businesses that can create compelling reasons for families to spend during this period could potentially capture a disproportionate share of the additional footfall.
A simple family-focused offer, a well-priced lunch, an attractive drinks proposition or a reason to extend their visit could make the difference between missing out on the additional opportunity and driving footfall and taking advantage of a £40-£60 revenue opportunity.
The pie isn't evenly divided
And that's perhaps the most important point.
The £2m isn't going to be shared equally between Chesterfield businesses.
Some businesses will capture a much larger slice.
Some will capture very little.
The winners are likely to be those that understand:
Who is coming into town
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When they're coming
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What they're looking for
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What they're prepared to spend
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How to convert that footfall into sales
There's still time
The summer holidays aren't over.
There are still weeks of increased family footfall ahead.
There are still thousands of additional visitors coming into Chesterfield.
And, based on our current modelling, there could still be around £1m of potential additional consumer spending available to businesses over the remainder of the holidays.
The opportunity isn't necessarily about cutting prices.
It's about understanding the customer that's in front of you and giving them a reason to spend.
Chesterfield has a £2m summer holiday pie ~ We're halfway through it ~ How big a slice are you going to take?
We capture and analise local data sets and behaviours to support businesses maximise their revenue through customer insight. If you'd like further detail on how we could support you to grow your business contact us via the below channels:
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