Businesses in Coventry enjoyed a cracking Christmas with hotels, venues, visitor attractions and shops reporting a strong festive period.
Coventry Business Improvement District (BID) has been speaking with businesses across the city centre about the positive impact the period has had.
Footfall figures for December are still being finalised, however in November the city centre saw footfall up 21 per cent on November 2023 figures.
It has been boosted by Coventry City Council’s Festival of Christmas event, the big wheel and Christmas markets.
New businesses have opened their doors in the city centre too in the lead-up to Christmas, providing a diverse range of new activities for people of all ages to enjoy.
Star Pins, at West Orchards, welcomed its first guests on December 6, for ten-pin bowling, ice-free curling, shuffleboard and many more activities.
Indoor adventure park Flip Out opened on December 14 – just in time for families to enjoy its wide range of activities, such as state-of-the-art dodgems, a roller-skating rink, and a PS5 Gaming Zone.
It follows on from the opening of creative mini-golf venue Putt Putt Social which opened earlier in the year at Lower Precinct.
The Belgrade Theatre has enjoyed another year on par with its record-breaking Christmas last year, with 46,000 people from across the city and region attending either its pantomime Dick Whittington or production of Father Christmas in its smaller auditorium.
Ray Clenshaw, Head of Communications at The Belgrade, said: “It’s vital for the Belgrade to have a successful Christmas in order to help support the work we do on our stages and in our communities throughout the year, and we know a busy time for us also has a really positive impact on the restaurants, shops, bars and hotels in the city, so it’s great news for everyone.
“We’re incredibly grateful for the continued support of our local audiences, and also to Coventry BID and our local businesses who we’ve worked particularly closely with on our collective Christmas offer this year.”
Coventry City Centre is always a popular choice for Christmas parties, get togethers and catch-ups with friends.
The Telegraph Hotel, which opened three years ago in the former offices of the city’s daily newspaper, has seen its party nights completely sold out.
It has served 10,000 roast potatoes, 12,500 Brussels sprouts, thousands of turkey portions and seen more than 3,000 Christmas crackers pulled at its parties.
Thousands of people have flocked to the city centre to seek out the perfect gift for their loved ones, with retailers seeing the benefits of initiatives such as Late Night Shopping on Wednesdays.
New Look, in Lower Precinct, has seen an uplift on of 20 per cent on Wednesday trade compared to last year.
Becci Slater, Store Manager at New Look, said: “We have had a successful December. We can see that there is definitely a shift change in the marketing in the city and a desire to make the city interesting for customers to visit. All in all, I would say there’s a lot of positive things happening.”
Coventry BID works with its levy payers to make the city centre a vibrant and safe place to live, visit and work.
Joanne Glover, Chief Executive of Coventry BID, added: “There are so many reasons to visit the city centre in the lead-up to Christmas, whether that is to take in a show, shop or enjoy one of our brilliant entertainment venues.
“The hope is that a visit to the city centre for one of those reasons will then inspire people to visit one of our other attractions, for example seeing a show at the theatre, enjoying one of the new additions to our entertainment scene and then staying the night at a hotel.”
“It was a fantastic Christmas for the city centre and has set us up perfectly for a strong 2025.”