• Manchester retains place in the ‘premier league’ of top performing city centres
• 330 stores participated in the initiative commissioned by Manchester BID
• City centre retailers achieved overall customer satisfaction score of 85%
• 30 stores achieved a perfect 100% score

Manchester city centre stores are delivering an exceptional level of customer service according to a mystery shopping survey commissioned and revealed today by Manchester’s Business Improvement District, Manchester BID.

City centre stores and restaurants achieved an average score of 85%, making it one of the top UK locations assessed by national market research company, Storecheckers, which conducted the independent survey in May this year.

330 city centre businesses across thirteen categories including Jewellery, Health and Beauty, Technology, Food and Drink and Fashion took part with 30 city centre businesses scoring a perfect 100%.

The survey also revealed a surge in pride in the city by stores and businesses with local knowledge and love for the city up by 14% from 69% in 2017 to 83% in 2018.

Sales skills across the city have improved yet again with scores rising to 98% compared to 91% in 2017 with staff across the city also receiving full marks for product knowledge, scoring an impressive 100% across the board.

The Awards

The mystery shopping exercise, now in its the third year, is commissioned annually by Manchester BID which commenced its second five-year term in April following a successful renewal ballot which saw 77% of voters back the continuation of the BID.

The ‘Yes’ vote secured an additional £6 million of investment into the city’s retail district over the next five years, helping Manchester retain and reinforce its standing as the UK’s leading retail destination outside of London.

The results of the survey and winners of the thirteen categories were revealed at an Awards Breakfast held today (Thursday 21 June) at the Royal Exchange Theatre, with staff from the winning stores receiving a whole host of experience-led prizes including hotel stays, complimentary meals and theatre tickets, courtesy of some of the city’s top hotels, restaurants and venues.

Two stores picked up an award for the second year running with House of Fraser taking home the Multi Gender Fashion Large Store award and Jones Bootmaker winning the Footwear award for the second consecutive year.

2018 Mystery Shop Winners

Advised Customer Service: Trailfinders, Deansgate, sponsored by Malmaison

Banking: TSB, Cross Street, sponsored by Dog Bowl

Jewellery: Mappin & Webb, St Ann Street, sponsored by Manchester Art Gallery

Single-Gender Men’s Fashion: Intro, Deansgate, sponsored by Hotel Football

Single-Gender Women’s Fashion: DKNY, King Street, sponsored by Fazenda

Multi-Gender Fashion Large Store:House of Fraser, Deansgate, sponsored by Staybridge Suites

Multi Gender Fashion:White Stuff, King Street, sponsored by The Lowry Theatre

Footwear:  Jones Bootmaker, King Street, sponsored by The Crystal Maze

Food & Beverage Dine in: Grafene, King Street, sponsored by Crowne Plaza Hotel Oxford Road

Food & Beverage Take Out: Taco Bell, Manchester Arndale, sponsored by Royal Exchange Theatre

Health & Beauty: The Body Shop, Market Street, sponsored by Store Street at DoubleTree Hilton

Technology: EE, Market Street, sponsored by INNSIDE Melia Hotel Manchester

Home & Lifestyle: Whitewall Galleries, King Street, sponsored by HOME

Phil Schulze, Manchester BID Manager says: “Our annual secret shopper survey is incredibly important in benchmarking the customer experience provided by city centre stores and businesses and yet again the sector has done us extremely proud with a fantastic level of outstanding scores. This year’s results have also revealed a great sense of pride in the city with retail staff proving to be real ambassadors for the city, which perfectly aligns with our ethos of working collectively to ensure city centre retail continues to thrive.

“The survey also allows us to recognise the efforts of individual stores and businesses through thirteen sector specific awards and we’d like to congratulate these winners all of whom have demonstrated service excellence at the highest level.”

Follow @manchesterBID to keep up to date with BID events and initiatives.

For more media information, please contact Anoushka Done or Kat Booth on 0161 827 1710 or email anoushka@echo-pr.co.uk / kat@echo-pr.co.uk.