Town centre business in ‘good position to weather pandemic’

This is the view of Warrington Borough Council in response to the publication of Cities Outlook 2022 – a new economic assessment compiled by research and policy institute Centre for Cities.

It has revealed that the pandemic has cost businesses in Warrington town centre 11 weeks’ worth of potential takings since March 2020.

But the council says this shows the resilience of high street spending in the town throughout the period of Covid, with Warrington outperforming other large towns and cities.

According to the report, Central London lost the equivalent of 47 weeks of sales between March 2020 and September 2021 due to the impact of the pandemic.

Across the north west, Manchester city centre is worst affected, losing 41 weeks of sales between the first lockdown and Omicron’s onset.

Businesses in the centre of Wigan and Preston are also among the worst hit in the region.

Town centre businesses in ‘good position to weather pandemic storm’, says council

In comparison, Warrington has performed well, losing only 11 weeks of sales – more than four times less than London.

This places Warrington as the second best performing of the UK’s 62 largest towns or cities, in terms of reduced high street spending.

Cllr Tom Jennings, Warrington Borough Council’s cabinet member for economic development and innovation, praised residents for continuing to shop local.

He said: “Warrington has a strong, resilient business sector, which – along with a continued desire from our residents to spend local and support local businesses – has put us in a good position to weather the impact of the pandemic.

“This latest analysis from Centre for Cities shows that in comparison to other major towns and cities, Warrington’s high street has continued to perform relatively well since 2020.

“This is good news for Warrington and can give us confidence as our town centre continues on the road to economic recovery.”

The Cities Outlook Report 2022, follows on from Centre for Cities High Streets Recovery Tracker at the end of 2020, which placed Warrington second in the UK for Covid high street spend recovery.