Caerphilly County Borough offers excellent retail opportunities for business, with the local authority recognising the importance of the retail sector to the wider regional economy. The 3 main town centres of Bargoed, Blackwood and Caerphilly benefit from a dedicated Town Centre Development Manager who co-ordinates the strategic and operational needs of these regional centres. In September 2009, Business Development published "Town Centres - Unique Places". This strategy for town centre management takes a holistic approach to integrate all the elements that make a town unique and sets out a vision for town centre development in these principal towns. Each town has its own brand and is proactively marketed for both investment and to increase footfall.
In August 2006 a new electronic pedestrian counting system was introduced into each of these principle towns. Market leaders, Experian Footfall operate the system and each week the data is compiled into a Footfall Index, which is distributed to retailers across the 3 towns. Caerphilly's footfall average of 42,000 per week, Blackwood with 38,000 and Bargoed 13,000.
To assist investors, leading Retail Consultants CACI was commissioned to produce individual market summary reports for Caerphilly, Blackwood and Bargoed. These comprehensive reports use the ACORN profile system to establish a demographic profile of the towns. Drive time maps have been produced for each of the town centres.
A Retail Property Directory is available free of charge at on the Caerphilly Business Portal website. Town centres are at the heart of the community and need a strong and diverse retail offer which balances the major high street brands with local independent businesses, providing a wider choice for the consumer and retaining the identity of the towns.
There are exciting new retail developments planned for both Caerphilly and Bargoed.