Audience rate of return

The return of audiences to leisure destinations

Shopping Centres:

UK shopping centres re-opened on the 15^th June & retail audiences have steadily returned since that point, with malls currently experiencing about 80% of their usual footfall.  Research from retail landlord Savills shows that 88% of shoppers have found the ‘post-lockdown’ retail experience positive (mindset), with 83% of customers spending up to 90 minutes in their shopping centre on each visit (dwell-time). In addition, almost a third of all customers spent more than they were expecting, with the average basket size increasing (consumption). The UK Governments ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ discount scheme and the introduction of face coverings has further ‘normalised’ shopper numbers and behaviour.

All our 100+ shopping centres are open, with 300+ digital screens live.

Health Clubs, Gyms & Leisure Centres:

Since the health & fitness sector were given the ‘green light’ on 25^th July across England, the vast majority of venues have re-opened & feedback from our partner chains (inc. Pure Gym, David Lloyd, Nuffield Health & Anytime Fitness) has been very positive, with classes fully booked out & members acting responsibly. Clubs have so-far seen a 82% rate of return (compared to 2019), wiht some clubs in suburban areas registering over 90% of footfall compared to the same period last year. Loss has been minimal with circa 90% of memberships still active.

Leisure Centres (Everyone Active and Places Leisure) have seen a phased reopening throughout August and are currently seeing 27% of visitor numbers (compared to 2019). This is expected to rise as confidence grows and further indoor facilities gradually open.

All our gyms & Leisure Centres are now open (with the exception of those in local lockdown areas), with 880 x D6’s live.

Cinema:

Our Cinema partner VUE has been re-opening their UK estate throughout August, with sites ‘phased’ on a weekly basis. The highly anticipated blockbuster release Tenet (26th August) kicked off the film slate for the remainder of the year, raising almost £14m at the box office, with Free Guy, Death on the Nile & Wonder Women 1984 all scheduled for a busy end to the year. According to research by Metrix Labs, Cinema was the third most missed out-of-home leisure activity during lock-down (52% of adults ‘missed it’), only marginally behind ‘visiting family/friends’ & ‘eating out’.

All 59 Vue sites are now open with 775 x D6’s and 61 x Digi-Walls live, with a few operating at reduced weekend hours.

Playcentres:

As of 15th August, The UK Government gave the go ahead for indoor soft playcentres to re-open, joining trampoline parks & climbing walls/centres which reopened on the 27^th July. The news means our soft play centre estate is back up and running, with social distancing measures in place. Play centres are currently seeing around 69% return on pre-lockdown levels as parents turn to indoor play with summer winding down.

Schools & 6^th Forms:

Following government guidelines, all schools in the UK are now open with appropriate social distancing measures in place, including phased returning and class or year sized bubbled. Please contact us for details of advertising opportunities across our portfolio of 4,500+ schools.

If you would like to find out more about advertising across our networks and our 2 for 1 offer, please get in touch with our team!