Campaign group Save The Street urges Government to stimulate local spending

Campaign group Save The Street is urging the Government to take action now to encourage consumers to support their local shops saying it will be too late for many independent retail businesses to be saved as footfall continues to lag way behind pre-pandemic levels.

The latest footfall data from Springboard has revealed that footfall at UK high street destinations dropped by 6.6% from the previous seven-day period, just four weeks after the re-opening of non-essential retail in England.

Compared to pre-pandemic 2019, footfall now sits at -27.2% in shopping centres, a heavier -35.6% in high streets and -1.3% in retail parks.

In a straw poll taken by Save The Street – which was established by Ross Bailey, founder of the pop-up retail space platform Appear Here – 48% of retailers said they were disappointed with the level of footfall since they reopened on 12 April.

More than a quarter (26%) said that they didn’t think their business would survive if shopper numbers failed to recover to pre-pandemic levels. Despite the gradual opening up of the economy, the vast majority (77%) said they were still in favour of a "Shop Out to Help Out"-style scheme.

Bailey has proposed an incentive scheme for small high street shops similar to last year’s Eat Out To Help Out initiative for the hospitality sector. The proposal would see the Government cover 50% of the cost of what the public buys at independent retailers, capped at £10.

If footfall fails to fully recover, 1 in 6 (16%) retailers surveyed estimated they would only be able to stay afloat for between 1 and 3 months.  

With every £1 spent with independent shops generating an additional 63p of benefit for their local economy - compared to just 40p generated by large firms - Save The Street is urging the Chancellor Rishi Sunak to look again at the group's stimulus proposal and "do all he can to save the endangered independent shops that are the beating heart of Britain’s local communities."

Save The Street has the backing of many well known fashion and retail names including Mary Portas, designer Henry Holland (who has designed the campaign's slogan "(Rishi) Don't Make Us Obsolete, Save The Street") and beauty entrepreneur Charlotte Tilbury.