Milton Keynes City Centre Delivers a Standout Start to 2026

Milton Keynes City Centre has delivered an exceptional start to 2026, with both retail spending and footfall significantly outperforming national trends, according to the latest MyMiltonKeynes City Centre Insights.

January set a strong foundation, with city centre sales rising +3.0% year‑on‑year, outperforming the national ‑0.7% decline. Average transaction values increased +3.0%, ahead of the UK benchmark of +2.5%, reflecting sustained consumer confidence in the Milton Keynes offer. February continued this upward trajectory, delivering +5.6% year‑on‑year sales growth, compared with a ‑4.0% national fall. Growth was supported by a +6.4% uplift in average revenue per customer and strong performances across Food & Drink, Health & Beauty and Retail.

Footfall trends also highlighted the city centre’s resilience. Milton Keynes recorded footfall increases in both January (+2.6%) and February (+0.1%), in contrast to national declines of ‑0.6% in January and a sharper ‑4.7% in February, where poor weather conditions impacted high streets across the UK. Local engagement remains strong, with over half of visitors staying more than an hour.

Diane Wehrle, BID Chair

Diane Wehrle, Rendle Intelligence & Insights, and Chair of MyMiltonKeynes BID, said: “Milton Keynes has started 2026 in an exceptionally strong position. At a time when much of the UK is experiencing softer trading conditions, our city centre is delivering growth across both sales and footfall. Businesses here continue to offer a compelling mix of retail, dining and leisure, and consumers are responding with confidence.

Nationally, both January and February were challenging months, with declining sales and reduced footfall across most towns and cities. Milton Keynes stands out as a real success story. To see consistent growth in both months — when the national benchmark declined — is impressive and highlights the city’s strong, resilient performance.”

MyMiltonKeynes BID publishes monthly City Centre Insights to give member businesses access to high‑quality data on sales, footfall, visitor behaviour and other key metrics, providing valuable evidence to support investment, planning and growth across the BID area. Sales data is derived from debit card transactions within the BID area, while Milton Keynes visitor data is provided by BT Active Intelligence and compared with UK retail footfall data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Sensormatic.