Footfall growth slows following hospitality reopening rush

Footfall across all UK retail destinations rose by +4.5% from 12-18 July – less than half the +10.6% rise from the previous week which saw hospitality and leisure businesses reopen on 4 July.

The latest data from retail experts Springboard reveals the rise was driven by high streets and shopping centres, where footfall rose +6.8% and +4.7% respectively, while footfall in retail parks dropped -0.7%.

While the extent of the rise in overall footfall from the week before was not as significant as hoped, it was enough to reduce the year on year decline to -40.2% which is the most modest since the start of the lockdown.

Diane Wehrle, Insights director at Springboard, said: “Last week demonstrated that the longed for flood of shoppers returning to bricks and mortar destinations and retail stores once again became a trickle.

“Despite the limited rise in footfall, the year-on-year result is at its most modest yet, which does provide a glimmer of hope for the struggling retail industry.”

The results by nation demonstrated the positive effect of the easing of lockdown restrictions, with footfall in Scotland and Wales rising from the previous week by +21.7% and +15.6% respectively.

In Scotland's shopping centres, which reopened last week, footfall rose by a significant +66.7%, and in Wales footfall in high streets rose by +27.5%.

Growth in footfall in Central London continues to be slow in what is usually peak tourist season, with footfall rising just +15% over the week, though that was more than double the rate of increase across all UK high streets.

But the gap between last year and this year remains far greater, with an annual decline of -67.2% in historic towns and -71.3% in Central London.