The New West End BID company, incepted for a three year period through a vote in April 2005, is introducing automated pedestrian monitoring throughout its BID area which comprises all of the West End's key trading streets.

Springboard, the UK's leading provider of electronic pedestrian monitoring in high streets and town centres, is implementing its service on behalf of NEWEC at around 30 locations around the West End which will deliver hourly footfall counts, continuously - 24 hours a day - along Oxford Street, Regent Street and Bond Street and a in number of other key streets in the BID area. Counts will be delivered online to NEWEC daily, through Springboard's website at www.spring-board.info.

Gary Reeves, Chief Executive Officer of NEWEC, says that

"We are tremendously excited by the prospect of being able to have definitive evidence of the success of the West End in attracting customers. This is the first time that such information will be available, and the accuracy, scope and quality of Springboard's information means that we will be able to evaluate the success of our objective of increasing footfall, and also to understand how different streets perform throughout the year. This, combined with Springboard's online delivery and high street benchmarking capability, will enable us to implement the most appropriate initiatives, and to respond quickly and effectively to changes in the West End's performance."

Diane Wehrle, Marketing Director of Springboard, says that

"We are delighted to be working with NEWEC, as we believe that our footfall information will offer real benefits for the BID. Through our Regional City Benchmark, we are also able to deliver effective comparative information so that NEWEC can compare its trading patterns with those in regional cities elsewhere. Multiple locations are being monitored in each of the key trading streets - ten in Oxford Street, six in both Bond Street and Regent Street in addition to a number of other locations elsewhere in the BID area - which means that NEWEC will be able to understand how trade varies within West End which is tremendously important in order to ensure that all streets reap benefits from the BID."