BRIGHTON and Hove is bouncing back from the pandemic stronger than anywhere else in the country, according to a recent study.
The study by credit card brand Aqua found that spending in the city increased by just over 385 per cent when covid restrictions began to ease between April and June of this year, compared with the year up to March 2021.
Residents were especially keen to return to the city’s range of restaurants, pubs and bars, with spending of this sort up almost 650 per cent over the same period.
People from Brighton and Hove have also spent five times more on travel since restrictions eased, the report found, with search terms like ‘spas in Brighton’ among some of the highest travel-related searches in the city.
The city beat towns and cities like Northampton, Edinburgh and even London in terms of post-lockdown spending.
Full top ten list of cities by post-lockdown bounce in consumer spending
- Brighton and Hove - 385.2 per cent
- Northampton - 377.6 per cent
- London - 375.5 per cent
- Coventry - 374 per cent
- Edinburgh - 367.6 per cent
- Stoke-on-Trent - 367.1 per cent
- Birmingham - 365.7 per cent
- Reading - 365.4 per cent
- Glasgow - 363.4 per cent
- Manchester - 362.5 per cent
Commercial director of Aqua Sharvan Selvam said: “It’s great to see that people in Brighton and Hove have been so eager to bounce back from covid restrictions, especially in supporting their favourite local pubs and restaurants.
“When analysing Brighton and Hove against other cities in the UK, it’s clear to see that many residents truly enjoy going out and socialising, as they have the highest Google search volume for terms relating to eating and drinking out, such as ‘dog-friendly pubs’ and ‘best restaurants near me’.
"Alongside this, Brightonians have clearly been eager to get back to shopping and hitting the high streets, as retail spending in the city has increased by over 13 per cent, which almost double the national average of seven per cent.”
Sharvan added that while it is great to see the economy and social lives returning to normal, people should continue to make good financial decisions and not get “carried away by the euphoria of our regained freedom.”
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