TWO additional footfall cameras are now being used to measure the number of people visiting town as part of work to revitalise the Island’s retail scene.
Responding to a written States question from Deputy Max Andrews, Economic Development Minister Kirsten Morel said that the new cameras had been installed in Queen Street and King Street in December to provide more data on the “concentration” of footfall.
He added that the Retail Strategy, which will “address the various levers we can use to drive down vacancy rates”, would be published this year.
However, Deputy Morel warned there was no “silver bullet” when it came to revitalising the high street and that it would take a “combination of efforts”.
Work to breathe life back into St Helier and the Central Market has been taking place for some time and the current government listed “a plan to revitalise town” and “support retail vitality and vibrancy” as one of its priorities in the Common Strategic Policy.
Deputy Morel recently published Enabling Business, his response to last year’s Barriers to Business report, which set out a raft of recommendations about how the government could make it easier to do business in Jersey.
He said work was under way to implement 17 of the 38 recommendations, and that the government was “exploring” relaxing the Island’s strict rules around alcohol licensing and Sunday trading.
Data from earlier this year revealed a 24% drop in foot traffic in town in August 2023 compared to the same period in 2019.
In his latest comments, Deputy Morel said: “Footfall is one of the key indicators of the health of a high street. However, it only paints half the picture. If the footfall is not being converted to store entries or sales, it is not valuable on its own.
“Footfall is now monitored through two additional footfall cameras (installed in December 2023) in Queen Street and King Street. This has given us more data around the concentration of footfall and will be comparable year-on-year from this December.”
He added: “The Retail Strategy, due to be published this year, will address the various levers we can use to drive down vacancy rates. Among the early actions identified from this are the creation of a playbook for prospective retailers interested in investing in St Helier to encourage further investment; this will be published in July.
“However, there is not a silver bullet, and it will take a combination of efforts, as well as the acknowledgement of market changes to feel a marked difference on the high street. Landlords’ decisions also play a big part in vacancy rates.”
However, Deputy Morel said that there would always be some “natural vacancies” as the nature of the high street changed, and as buildings were sold and redeveloped, which could lead to gaps between tenancies.
“Where this is the case, government has sought ways to work with landlords on meanwhile use in some of the empty shops,” he said, adding that this included charity promotion, photography exhibitions, art auctions and public engagement.
