The free parking initiative launched by Herefordshire Council after a successful campaign from Your Herefordshire and local retail leaders has provided a ‘huge boost’ to shops during this difficult time.
Luke Conod who owns FIT and the School Uniform Shop said:
“I have done a straw pole of a number of retailers in the city and included figures from our own stores
“I have compared sales over the past 7 days with the same week last year and they are well up. They were also well up on the previous two weeks when parking was chargeable.
“Last week our own stores sales were 30% up on the previous weeks.
“I have also spoken to retailers in other towns and cities where they have charged for parking from the reopening of stores and their sales have done the exact opposite. They had a spike in week 1 and week 2 and then have deteriorated over the last week to below last years and previous weeks levels.
“I am really pleased that we were able to trial free parking in the county over this period.”
