Latest figures from retail experts, Springboard, reveal that footfall in UK retail destinations increased by 4.1% from the week before between 5pm and 12am. The first day of the reopening of indoor hospitality highlighted consumers desire, even in the rain, to return to inside dining.
Up to 5pm yesterday footfall across all retail destinations declined from the same day in the week before by -3%, but from 5pm onwards it rose by +4.1%. As a consequence over the 24 hours footfall was just -0.2% lower than on the previous Monday.
Of the three destination types, the clear winner was high streets where, from a drop of -1.6% pre 5pm, footfall rose by +5.6% post 5pm ending +1.4% higher than the Monday before.
On a geographic basis, the East Midlands, North and Yorkshire, the South West, Wales and the West Midlands all recorded increases in footfall post 5pm of more than +10% and in three regions rises were in excess of +20%.
In contrast with the rest of the UK, in Central London footfall was stronger before 5pm than in the evening (+1.3% up to 5pm and -2.8% from 5pm onwards), whilst in regional cities outside of London the reverse was true with a huge rise in footfall in the evening of +22.4%. This pattern of activity also occurred in tourist led towns (coastal and historic towns) and also in market towns, all of which are easy to reach for residents who live nearby.
Diane Wehrle, Insights Director at Springboard commented: “Heavy rain showers acted as somewhat of a dampener on the first day that indoor hospitality reopened up until 5pm. Rather than seeing increases in footfall from last Monday, by 3pm footfall across all UK retail destinations was -2.8% lower than on Monday last week.
However, as the day led in to the evening large parts of the country saw a significant increase in footfall after 5pm underlining the considerable demand for indoor dining. The highlight was that in regional cities and tourist towns footfall increased by as much as 20.2% in some areas of the UK. Greater London was perhaps hardest hit of any destination, with a drop in footfall of -4.4% yesterday in comparison with Monday last week.”
| Week on week % change in footfall | ||||
| Up to 5pm | 5pm to 12am | 24 hours | ||
| UK High Streets | -1.6% | 5.6% | 1.4% | |
| UK Retail Parks | -5.4% | -0.1% | -2.6% | |
| UK Shopping Centres | -3.4% | 5.1% | -1.1% |
| All UK Destinations | -3.0% | 4.1% | -0.2% |
| Up to 5pm | 5pm to 12am | 24 hours | |
| East | -2.5% | 1.9% | -2.8% |
| East Midlands | -2.4% | 20.2% | 2.8% |
| England | -3.6% | 3.2% | -0.5% |
| Greater London | -6.3% | -9.1% | -4.4% |
| Ireland | 0.9% | 6.5% | -2.0% |
| North & Yorkshire | -3.6% | 16.7% | 1.3% |
| Scotland | -4.2% | 6.6% | -0.9% |
| South East | -5.5% | -6.5% | -4.5% |
| South West | 0.2% | 12.5% | 5.5% |
| Wales | 5.5% | 27.6% | 9.5% |
| West Midlands | -0.8% | 24.0% | 5.9% |
| Up to 5pm | 5pm to 12am | 24 hours | |
| Central London | 1.3% | -2.8% | 4.5% |
| Coastal Towns | -0.7% | 8.9% | 6.3% |
| Historic Towns | 3.4% | 21.4% | 6.2% |
| Market Towns | -3.0% | 8.0% | -1.0% |
| Outer London | -9.8% | -19.2% | -7.6% |
| Regional City Excl London | -2.8% | 22.4% | 3.8% |
| % change in footfall 2021 vs 2019 | |||
| Up to 5pm | 5pm to 12am | 24 hours | |
| UK High Streets | -38.4% | -42.7% | -36.7% |
| UK Retail Parks | -3.0% | -10.4% | -4.2% |
| UK Shopping Centres | -32.0% | -31.3% | -30.7% |
| All UK Destinations | -28.4% | -32.2% | -27.5% |
| Up to 5pm | 5pm to 12am | 24 hours | |
| East | -22.3% | -18.8% | -20.6% |
| East Midlands | -29.3% | -17.9% | -27.8%
|
| England | -28.5% | -32.5% | -27.3% |
| Greater London | -31.4% | -32.6% | -28.6% |
| Ireland | -21.0% | -24.6% | -26.0% |
| North & Yorkshire | -27.4% | -25.9% | -24.8% |
| Scotland | -33.9% | -36.7% | -33.7% |
| South East | -22.0% | -30.4% | -25.7% |
| South West | -23.1% | -18.9% | -19.0% |
| Wales | -27.5% | -18.9% | -25.7% |
| West Midlands | -27.6% | -14.9% | -21.3% |
| Up to 5pm | 5pm to 12am | 24 hours | |
| Central London | -64.1% | -69.4% | -64.4% |
| Coastal Towns | -28.3% | -19.5% | -22.3% |
| Historic Towns | -29.3% | -22.5% | -26.2% |
| Market Towns | -31.1% | -22.5% | -27.4% |
| Outer London | -28.8% | -35.1% | -23.4% |
| Regional City Excl London | -39.0% | -34.5% | -36.9% |
