Hereford businesses report postive trading in run-up to Christmas

Hereford appears to have defied a national dip in spending in the run-up to Christmas.

Non-food sales in UK shops fell 1.5 per cent over the five weeks up to December 28 compared with the previous year, while online shopping continued to climb, accounting for nearly two-fifths of sales, according to industry body the British Retail Consortium.

But Mike Truelove, chief executive of Hereford Business Improvement District (BID) which promotes the city as a shopping and leisure destination, said businesses are reporting that footfall “was definitely up on last year”.

“Sales picked up late, especially in the week before Christmas, which seems to be the trend now,” he said.

This is when the BID now focuses its promotion such as live entertainment – which “isn’t getting any cheaper, so you have to be strategic with it”.

“We are all guilty of getting things online, but you can’t replace coming into town with family and friends, seeing the lights and the tree,” Mr Truelove added.

“People are making an occasion of it, maybe staying in town for a meal.”

At Rossiter Books, which opened a Hereford branch in Church Street last spring, sales assistant Rhi Wilding Smith said the festive period “has been really good”.

“The timing of the storms in the run-up to Christmas was unfortunate, but things then picked up,” she said.

“It helps when there are events on in town, such as the Hallowe’en trail or the Christmas market at the Cathedral, when we were really busy.”

Colin Osborne, owner of CV Osborne Goldsmith and Jewellers in the same street, said Hereford BID “do quite a bit to promote the city, but you can always do more”.

Having been in its current location for 13 years, he thought the Old Market development “has taken footfall from the centre of town”, but added: “We can’t complain too much – Church Street is ideal, lovely to work in, and with virtually no empty shops.”

It is however some way from a car park – an issue in the city centre which “will rumble on for all eternity,” he said.

And he added: “It would be nice to have more parity with the online retailers – who of course offer no after-sales service.”