Tills ring in sales success

Visitors to Shrewsbury spent more than £135 million in town centre shops and businesses during 2024, according to official figures.

Shrewsbury BID has marked the end of its 10th year by issuing a “Spotify Wrapped”-style review of 2024, with a range of statistics showing where visitors to the town came from - and how they spent their money. 

The busiest day of the year, when record-breaking footfall was recorded, was Saturday, December 14, which ended up being the highest figure recorded on High Street since Shrewsbury BID began recording the data in 2015. 

Spending figures compiled using debit card data showed that a total of £135,684,430 was spent during the year in town centre businesses, with the largest proportions being spent in the food and drink sector (£47.8 million) and fashion (£36.9 million). 

The data also showed that 40% of town centre spend came from the SY1, SY2 and SY3 postcodes, with 29% from the rest of Shropshire and 31% coming from out of the county.

Meanwhile, Shrewsbury’s digital platforms enjoyed another busy year with 5.5 million people seeing more than 3,768 posts on the Original Shrewsbury social media channels. More than 82,000 people reacted to the social media content, with 6,000 comments posted during 2024. 

Seb Slater, executive director of Shrewsbury BID, said the figures showed the value of consistent work to promote the town and its businesses. 

“One of the key roles of the BID is to provide a strong collective voice to shout about the wonderful businesses we have in Shrewsbury town centre. 

“We wanted to celebrate the end of the year by sharing these excellent statistics which demonstrate that Shrewsbury is performing well in what remains a challenging economic landscape. We have a raft of amazing activities planned for the year ahead and are really looking forward to seeing Shrewsbury businesses continue to evolve and thrive.”