Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
Latest data from Springboard reveals that footfall across all UK retail destinations rose by +10.6% last week (from Sunday July 5 to Saturday July 11) from the week before – more than double the +4.1% increase in the previous week.
In high streets, where the vast majority of hospitality outlets are located, the rise in footfall over the week reached +16.5%. In shopping centres, the increase in footfall was less than half this at +7.8%.
But Springboard noted: ‘This is a positive result in light of the fact that far fewer hospitality outlets are located within shopping centres. In retail parks, where many have introduced coffee shops and some have added family-oriented restaurants, footfall increased only very marginally by +0.7%. However, despite the fact that the growth of retail park footfall appears to be levelling off, the presence of food stores on the majority of parks means that footfall on parks is now around a fifth lower than last year, whilst in high streets it remains 51.9% lower and 44.3% lower in shopping centres.’
Across the UK, the relaxation of lockdown restrictions in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales clearly contributed to the overall UK result. Footfall in Northern Ireland rose by +21% as hospitality also reopened there, and the easing of travel restrictions in Scotland and Wales led to rises in footfall over the week of +11.8% and +13.6% respectively.
In regions across England, the result varied from a low of +6.1% in the East Midlands and +6.6% in the East to +16.5% in the south-west. In central London, the rise in footfall from the week before neared +25%, although footfall remains more than 70% lower than in 2019.
Springboard insights director Diane Wehrle commented: “The first complete week following the reopening of hospitality in England demonstrates the contribution that this sector makes to footfall in retail destinations. The result was also supported by the positive impact on footfall from the easing of restrictions in other nations.”
Springboard tracks and forecasts footfall across key retail destination types at national and regional levels, recording over 70 million footfall counts per week at 4,500 counting points across 480 different shopping sites in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. It is part of the Government High Street Task Force working to revitalise local high streets across the UK.
| Week on week % change in footfall | |||||
| UK | England | Wales | Scotland | Northern Ireland | |
| High Streets | 16.5% | 16.0% | 19.0% | 18.6% | 24.9% |
| Retail Parks | 0.7% | 0.0% | 6.2% | 1.6% | 1.6% |
| Shopping Centres | 7.8% | 7.7% | 9.8% | 7.6% | 9.5% |
| UK destinations | 10.6% | 10.1% | 13.6% | 11.8% | 21.0% |
| Year on year % change in footfall | |||||
| UK | England | Wales | Scotland | Northern Ireland | |
| High Streets | -51.9% | -52.4% | -61.8% | -51.4% | -22.7% |
| Retail Parks | -20.5% | -21.1% | -27.2% | -16.6% | -4.2% |
| Shopping Centres | -44.3% | -42.2% | -52.3% | -66.1% | -15.6% |
| UK destinations | -42.6% | -42.4% | -51.2% | -46.8% | -20.9% |
Springboard insights director Diane Wehrle
