Retail and hospitality venues across the three areas saw a huge £149M spend in Q4 across all merchants. This is an 8% increase on Visa spend year on year, showing that Bristol’s shoppers and diners enthusiasm for local businesses continues to grow.

Retail and leisure high street, Park Street, in particular fared well , seeing a 20% increase in footfall as visitors made the most of the vintage shops, cafes and bars on the hill. 532,000 people visited the area between October and December to enjoy some pre-Christmas spending in their favourite businesses.

The predominant visitor to the area in Q4 was the 18-34 year old demographic, inferring that students and younger people are still spending in local businesses, despite the ever-growing online opportunities for shopping. This should give confidence to both existing businesses – as well as those that are about to open their doors for the first time – that there is still a growing appetite for the in store experience that Bristol businesses do so well.