UK CITIES RECOVERY INDEX
Edinburgh
Updated: 16th February
UK CITIES RECOVERY INDEX
Index + DART for Edinburgh
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Overview
Stricter Covid restrictions that were announced in December continued throughout most of January in Edinburgh although restrictions were lifted on the 24th of January.
As it stands, the recovery index stood at 84.9 on the 7th February, which is a significant increase on 73.6 measurement the previous month driven by the easing of Covid-19 restrictions.
UK CITIES RECOVERY INDEX
Sector Indices + DART for Edinburgh
Edinburgh Sector Indices
Commercial Activity
- The Commercial Activity Sector Index for Edinburgh remained static at 96.2 on 7th February, with no change recorded since the previous month. This is only slightly lower than the previous peak, 97.9, which was recorded in November 2021.
Hotel & Leisure
- As at 7th February, the Sector Index stood at 76.9, which is a slight improvement on 72.3 recorded a month earlier. This figure should continue to recover now that restrictions have been lifted, particularly when international tourism returns to the city.
Mobility
- The Mobility Sector Index fell to 78.1 last month but has seen a significant improvement, to 111 on the index on the 7th of February, indicating that people were returning to some sort of normal activity. The figure is still lower than December, prior to restrictions, where it peaked at 130.3 on 6th December.
Residential
- The Residential Sector Index for Edinburgh stayed relatively similar to January’s data increasing from 93.3 to 93.7. The was likely driven by Covid-19 restrictions, but may also be the signs of a slowdown in the market in light of increasing concerns of rising household costs.
Retail
- The Retail Index for Edinburgh now sits at 82.3 which is showing signs of recovery when compared to the 76.3 recorded in January; a month where consumers typically cut back on spending.
Return To Office
- Unlike England, government advice in Scotland remains to work from home where possible. However, the Return To Office Sector Index for Edinburgh improved to 53.2 compared to 36.3 on the 10th January. This figure is more comparable to December when it measured 52.9. The average Return To Office across all cities in the index only totaled 55.1, so Edinburgh is not lagging significantly behind the rest of the UK despite the continued advice to work at home.
UK CITIES RECOVERY INDEX
National Sector Indices + DART for Edinburgh
A VIEW FROM EDINBURGH
Stuart Agnew
Managing Director
“Edinburgh is a fantastic place to work and live, as well as attracting huge numbers of visitors every year because of its history, culture and people. However, Edinburgh’s significant economic reliance on the hospitality and tourism sectors may lead to real challenges over the coming months and years. In a COVID-19 environment with very little travel and hotels operating at much reduced occupancy levels, the city will need to look very closely at how to replace this loss of income.
The city is also renowned as the second financial centre of the UK and a major banking hub. However, a number of these organisations have cut back on staff numbers and are keen to have a flexible work from home policy going forward. There may be an opportunity to look at edge of city locations for mixed office and residential use and allow for quicker planning decisions and incentives to developers for larger scale proposals. We need to retain the culture and protect the heritage of the city centre alongside larger strategic plans for edge of city locations where for example, future venues of the internationally renowned Edinburgh Festival could be located.”
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