00:00Far fewer people are choosing to visit Birmingham City Centre.
00:05Analysis from Avis & Young reported by Visitor Insights
00:09found footfall was 19% lower currently than in 2022,
00:15although that year was boosted by the Commonwealth Games.
00:18I'd have to say, as sort of having grown older,
00:21it's a place I go to less often, and when I do go there,
00:25I tend to feel, and perhaps it's an age thing,
00:29the demographic, or the age population, has shifted notably.
00:35It's not the place where all people tend to go into shop,
00:39and of course you see that by the shops that have closed down.
00:42And also, what's of course a bit disconcerting,
00:44you see lots of security guards on shops,
00:46which of course is to deal with shoplifting and so on and so forth.
00:49I suspect that Birmingham is no worse than many other cities,
00:52so you've got to put these things in context.
00:54But undoubtedly, there are particular issues,
00:58and of course can only be solved, I guess, by sort of greater policing.
01:01But of course the policing is a really difficult task at the moment,
01:04because if you go in too heavily handed,
01:06then of course that causes you problems.
01:08But of course the sort of, they softly, softly,
01:10perhaps that's not sort of having the desired effect.
01:13So the difficulty is that, yeah,
01:16Birmingham has had enough bad news in sort of recent years
01:19to last a lifetime, as it were.
01:22And so the difficulty it has,
01:24if it continues to get this really dreadful publicity,
01:27and of course social media plays its role in this,
01:30then it's got to do something,
01:31because of course international investors,
01:33or I mean domestic investors,
01:34they're not going to want to come to it.
01:36And we've seen some major retailers disappear.
01:38So something should be done.
01:41The real difficulty is that how soon can it be done,
01:43and the amount of resource that's got to go into it.
01:46Crime is a central issue.
01:49West Midlands Police have reported city centre incidents recently,
01:53including a serious stabbing in Victoria Square,
01:56disorder involving teenagers,
01:58knife recoveries and arrests linked to planned disruption.
02:02Officers say Project Guardian is targeting youth violence and knife crime
02:07through patrols, searches and prevention work.
02:10But perception matters too.
02:13TikTok and YouTube clips showing large groups of young people on busy streets
02:18have helped shape fears about whether the city centre feels safe.
02:24School kids, they like to congregate.
02:25Nothing new in that.
02:27But there is no doubt perhaps there's a greater,
02:29if I use that sort of that word,
02:31edginess to sort of the fact these kids do,
02:33and of course they do it for social media purposes.
02:35It's not a good look.
02:36Birmingham is changing.
02:38Public round works are improving areas around New Street,
02:41Temple Street and routes towards Victoria Square,
02:45while Metro, bus and rail investment is reshaping access.
02:50The challenge now is whether those cleaner streets,
02:53stronger policing and major regeneration
02:55can restore confidence and bring visitors back.
02:59So thank you very much.
02:59So thank you.
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