Wakefield high street leading the way towards recovery from lockdown

The Centre for Cities high streets recovery tracker shows how quickly high streets in the UK’s largest cities and towns are returning to their previous levels of activity.

And the Wakefield district sits firmly at the top for spend within the local economy.

Coun Darren Byford, Wakefield Council’s Cabinet Member for Economic Growth, Regeneration and Property, said: “It’s a real boost to see that people are continuing to return to our towns and city, and it’s encouraging to see an increase in spend in some areas across the district.

“The Centre for Cities report is for the whole of the Wakefield district, with towns in our district such as Horbury and Ossett also benefiting from this increase in spend.

"We’ve got some cracking offers in retail and hospitality in the city and many of our towns, which gives people great options to shop more locally and gives local businesses a much-needed lift.

“These figures also show the importance of our vibrant night-time economy, as we are now welcoming more and more people back into the city centre.

“However, we know that more needs to be done and we are always looking at ways to further support our towns and city.”

Wakefield Council is investing more than £80million repurposing and positioning its city and towns to be thriving places that work for local communities and build a fairer future for all.

For more information on the council’s regeneration projects visit www.wakefield.gov.uk/regenerationThe Centre for Cities report can be found at https://www.centreforcities.org/data/high-streets-recovery-tracker/