Data isn’t a luxury—It’s the future of town centre success

Commentary

In today’s rapidly evolving urban landscape, the health of a town or city centre is no longer measured solely by retail occupancy or footfall numbers. Instead, it’s about understanding the complex interplay of people, places, and purpose and that starts with accurate, meaningful data.

Business Improvement Districts (BIDs), local authorities, and town centre partnerships across the country face a recurring challenge: a disconnect between the local population living within easy travelling distance of a town centre and the actual visitor demographic. This can be due to out-dated perceptions of a town centre which has started to find its feet again and re-invent itself or down to the fact that the town is servicing the needs of those who visit but not the needs of the people who do not.

Successful businesses understand the importance of good customer experience and use data to inform their decisions on whether they are meeting the needs of their customers.  ‘Understanding their customer’ is something businesses try to do all the time, quantifying the market, understanding their strengths and making sure that they use these to deliver a great customer experience as cost effectively as possible. This creates demand for their product and profit for the business.

Places can also use data to inform their decisions on meeting the needs of their local population. Quantifying the needs of the local catchment and thinking about how the unique qualities of the town can meet these needs is key to knowing how to change perceptions and attract new people and investment. The data needs to be accurate and timely. It also needs to be evaluated correctly to identify what has impacted upon the rise and fall of people coming into the place across the week and throughout the year at different times of the day and night.

Technology is evolving for data capture and reporting. Data collection methods need to be reliable and of a significant sample size to act as a basis for meaningful evaluation and sound decision making. Making uninformed decisions is no longer an option when budgets and capacity to develop the appeal of places for residents and potential investors are limited.

Places function as businesses with responsibilities to their communities, customers, and investors, as well as to the businesses operating within them—businesses that depend on a strong operating environment to succeed.

Businesses cannot operate and thrive without accurate data to evaluate their performance. Data is not a luxury; it is the foundation for creating destinations that people choose, trust, and enjoy.

By Ian Ferguson. Strategy and Development Director of Partnerships for Better Business Ltd (pfbb UK) Oct 2025

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