Birmingham City Centre Footfall Rises 11% in June 2024

Footfall in Birmingham city centre rose 11 percent in June compared to the same month in 2025, according to figures released this week by the Business Improvement District covering the Bullring and Grand Central area — the strongest June performance since before the 2022 Commonwealth Games. That single number captures something broader: the city's commercial core is pulling people back, but the story behind the stat is complicated.

The timing matters. Birmingham City Council is operating under government-appointed commissioners after issuing its Section 114 notice in 2023, and every piece of economic data carries political weight right now. Commissioners are due to submit their third progress report to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government before the end of July, and local observers are watching closely to see whether rising consumer activity translates into improved business rate receipts for a council that remains roughly £760 million in debt.

Spending, Heat and the Pressure on Services

Meanwhile, temperatures across the West Midlands hit 34 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, putting immediate pressure on council-run services. Birmingham City Council's seven designated cool spaces — including the Central Library on Chamberlain Square and the Erdington Hub on Orphanage Road — logged a combined 2,400 visits between Monday and Wednesday of this week alone, according to council operational data seen by The Daily Birmingham. That figure is more than double the weekly average recorded across the same sites last July.

The heat is also testing the city's road infrastructure. Transport for West Midlands confirmed that three sections of the A38 Aston Expressway required emergency surface checks after tarmac showed early signs of deformation — a known risk once sustained temperatures exceed 30 degrees. Repair costs for similar surface interventions across the West Midlands Combined Authority area last summer reached £1.4 million, a bill the WMCA had not budgeted for when it set its 2024-25 transport maintenance envelope.

In Digbeth, the picture is different again. The HS2 Curzon Street station construction zone now employs approximately 1,100 workers on site on a typical weekday, up from around 800 this time last year. Landowner and developer Lendlease has submitted revised planning documents to Birmingham City Council proposing 3,850 residential units across the wider Digbeth regeneration corridor — 35 percent of which would be classed as affordable under the S106 agreement currently being negotiated. Community groups in the area, including the Digbeth Is Good collective, have publicly argued that figure should be closer to 50 percent.

What the Numbers Mean on the Ground

Public transport data adds another layer. West Midlands Metro tram services recorded their highest-ever single-day ridership on 28 June — 42,700 journeys — helped by a combination of summer events and car-free promotion campaigns run through the West Midlands Combined Authority's £3.2 million Active Travel programme. But National Express West Midlands bus routes serving Handsworth and Lozells continue to show average delays of nine minutes during the afternoon peak, according to real-time performance data published by Transport for West Midlands for the week ending 29 June.

The gap between tram success and bus underperformance is one the WMCA has promised to address through its Bus Service Improvement Plan, which is now entering its third year with £47 million committed from central government through the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement. Whether that money produces measurable punctuality improvements before the plan's 2027 review date is the question driving conversations at the WMCA's next scrutiny committee, scheduled for 14 July at Wynn House in Solihull.

For residents navigating all of this in practical terms: the council's cool space map is live at Birmingham City Council's website and is updated daily through the current heatwave. Anyone travelling to the Bullring or Centenary Square this weekend should expect above-average crowds — the BID is forecasting Saturday footfall of around 85,000 — and Transport for West Midlands is advising commuters to check the live Metro status board before travelling, given that high rail temperatures can trigger speed restrictions on the tram network.

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