UK retail footfall down

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) announced this week retail footfall was down in the second quarter, with bad weather keeping shoppers away from the high street. Despite the Olympics and Jubilee, shopper numbers dropped 2.3 percent year on year

for the three months to July, worse than the 2 percent  fall the previous quarter.

The BRC said the UK high streets, out-of-town shopping areas and shopping centres all experienced weaker footfall across the past three months. Rain particularly affected the number of high street visitors, as levels plunged 5.5 percent  due to shoppers seeking shelter in undercover centres, where footfall slipped just 0.4 percent. Out-of-town areas dropped 1.2 percent .

High street footfall has been down for eighteen months, excluding the Christmas boost in December.

BRC director-general Stephen Robertson said: “There was little sign of a general Jubilee bounce, though the wettest June on record did produce the only month in the quarter when shopping centre footfall rose as people avoided going outside. Retailers will be hoping the Olympics had a more positive impact.”

Greater London, despite having the highest number of tourists and visitors, also had the worst footfall drop, with shoppers down 8.9 percent  in the period, while visitors to Scotland dropped 8.2percent and footfall slumped 7.3 percent  in the East. Northern Ireland and Wales were the only regions where footfall increased, by 6.2 percent  and 4 percent  respectively.

 Image: Oxford Street