UK retail footfall drops 4.1% amid poor weather

Footfall across UK retail destinations declined by 4.1% last week from the week prior, which was attributed to the impact of poor weather, according to the latest data from Springboard.

Activity in high streets also dropped to 6.6%, whilst in retail parks and shopping centres footfall declined by just 1.3% and 1.5% amid the rainy conditions.

The reduction in activity was widespread across the UK, spanning across all areas apart from Northern Ireland, where there was a rise in footfall of 21.1% reflecting the impact of the reopening of non-essential retail on Friday 30 April.

All types of high streets were impacted last week, with a drop in footfall of as much 10.1% in market towns.

In Central London however, which throughout the pandemic has been the most severely impacted city in the UK, saw footfall remain virtually level with a dip of just 0.8% from the week before.

Despite this, footfall in Central London last week was still 61.2% lower than its 2019 level compared with Outer London where it was 16.6% lower than its level two years ago.

Diane Wehrle, insights director at Springboard, said: “The impact of the rain was evident, with a more modest drop in activity in the enclosed environments of shopping centres and in retail parks that are easily accessible by car than in high streets.

“In contrast footfall in both high streets and shopping centres remained more than a quarter below than their levels in 2019, however it is likely to be these two destination types that will receive the greatest boost from the reopening of indoor hospitality next week.”