As stay at home message is dropped, footfall increases in towns

As the UK takes its first steps to ease out of lockdown, towns in coastal and historic areas are seeing increased footfall.

Between 11 and 14 May, general retail footfall dropped 1.9 percent, whereas coastal towns saw a 6 percent increase and historic towns 1.2 percent, according to the latest figures from Springboard.

With temperatures set to rise to the mid to high 20’s over the weekend and into next week, further increases are likely.

Biggest footfall increase since lockdown in March

The latest insight from Springboard indicates that this 4-day period was the largest increase since lockdown was enforced on Monday, 23 March. Despite government restrictions remaining in place, the knowledge of the Prime Minister’s roadmap being announced on Sunday 10 May led many to loosen restrictions early on their own accord to make the most of the good weather ahead of temperatures dropping this week.

Diane Wehrle, Insights Director at Springboard commented: “With the weather expected to get warmer as we move into late May, we anticipate that footfall will continue to rise, especially in destination towns. Many Brits will choose to take advantage of the loosened government restrictions to enjoy unlimited exercise and head to beauty spots in coastal and historic towns, despite the majority of retail remaining closed this month.”

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