Go Forth Stirling has launched a data gathering scheme which will help the city’s businesses plan for the future.
The Business Improvement District (BID) team secured £18,000 of grant funding towards a £50,000 initiative to install footfall counters in key city streets.
The move allows Go Forth to monitor traffic figures and pedestrian footfall providing data on when the city is at its busiest and what kind of events and projects bring visitors.
The organisation says such insight is vital in understanding trends and changes impacting the city centre as businesses recover from two difficult years of trading.
Go Forth Stirling project director Danielle McRorie-Smith said: “Business intelligence, insights and monitoring are vital tools when planning for the future and will give us a lot more information to work with. This will be invaluable for the businesses we represent.
“Monitoring the performance of Stirling city centre has never been so important as we recover from pandemic restrictions.”
Go Forth secured a £18,000 grant from the Love Local Fund II towards the counting devices installed in various locations including Barnton Street, Friars Street, King Street, Port Street and Goosecroft Road.
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They offer 24/7 footfall monitoring of both pedestrian and vehicular traffic and will provide a wealth of data including seasonal averages, variations, daily and monthly footfall reporting.
They also classify the types of vehicles at various times of the day.
Ms McRorie-Smith added: “The information will allow comparisons to be made to other towns and cities throughout the country and provide figures we can use to source innovative, future funding opportunities.
“The intelligence will also enable businesses to identify key patterns and trends.
“In addition, it will allow ourselves and our businesses to measure the impact of events and discover any notable changes, trends and habits.
“Stirling needs these statistics for both the current and future economic landscape, potential investment and funding opportunities and so we’re delighted to be able to move forward with this project thanks to the Love Local funding.”
The Scotland Loves Local Fund II is a multi-year fund with awards totalling up to £2million provided by the Scottish Government to support a range of towns and community/neighbourhood project partnerships.
Go Forth Stirling BID was set up in 2017 and currently represents more than 600 local businesses with a key objective of delivering projects and services which improve Stirling’s trading environment to benefit businesses, shoppers and visitors.
