Drake Circus celebrates bumper festive season

Drake Circus has reported a hugely successful festive season, with the centre welcoming more shoppers through the doors than the year before.

During the two weeks over Christmas*, the centre saw a 3% increase in footfall compared to 2024, with Monday 22nd December proving to be the busiest as shoppers picked up last minute gifts and enjoyed the Christmas lights, festive character visits and snow flurries.

As a result, sales at Drake Circus also soared during the same period, with retailers reporting a rise of 9% compared to the previous year as shoppers made the most of the huge range of stores on offer.**

The centre welcomed multiple new arrivals in the lead up to the big day itself, with Swarovski, Office, Victoria’s Secret and ProCook all joining the existing line up and consistently drawing significant crowds.

New arrivals also included the renowned quick service American restaurant brand Wendy’s in October, adding to the wide range of restaurants and offering shoppers even more choice when fuelling up after a busy day out with family or friends.

The bumper Christmas period was further driven by a number of popular activations to help visitors get into the spirit, including the centre’s annual Christmas lights switch on, seasonal character visits and daily snow flurries, which gave Plymouth locals the perfect opportunity to snap a snowy selfie.

Greg Lumley, centre director at Drake Circus and The Barcode, said: “2025 was a brilliant year for us at Drake Circus, and it was great to end it with a thriving festive period. Not only have we welcomed more shoppers through the doors, but we’ve also opened so many fantastic new places to shop and eat and delivered a busy programme of events along the way – making us the go-to destination for shoppers across Plymouth.”

The centre and its visitors also supported the wider local community over the festive season, with a campaign launched in December to tackle loneliness and isolation over the holiday period, promoting the vital work of local charity Age UK Plymouth by launching a ‘Merry Mailbox’ to give visitors the chance to share Christmas messages with those more likely to feel lonely at Christmas.

Greg added: “We’ve supported so many community organisations throughout the year, not least our partnership with Age UK Plymouth in December, becoming a real hub for those across the

local community. We’re grateful to all our visitors who participated in community initiatives both over Christmas and throughout the year, and we’re looking forward to more to come in 2026.

For more information and to plan your trip to Drake Circus and The Barcode, visit https://www.drakecircus.com/