Oxford street

Footfall in England rises by 42% on first morning after lock down

The urgency to get Scotland and Wales reopened is illustrated by comparing their footfall to England on Monday. While traffic across all of retail was up by almost 42% in England, it was down 4.3% in Scotland and up by only 8.3% in Wales.

Footfall for high streets in England was up by 51.7% by midday on Monday, the first day when non-essential retailers were allowed to open in the country, compared to the same day last week.

Northern Ireland opened its stores last week, but there is no date set for Wales or Scotland, which continue to bear the brunt of ruinous lock down measures that have crippled the UK economy over the past three months.

Retail analyst Springboard reported that the 51.7% rise in footfall in high streets from last week is greater than in shopping centres where footfall has risen by 37%.

Compared to the same day in 2019, footfall remains 34.2% down across all retail destinations in England.

Ernest jones
Staff at an Ernest Jones store ready to welcome customers.

Good weather across most of England, compared to last week’s cold snap, will have helped to boost numbers of shoppers, but Springboard believes footfall will continue to rise.

“Springboard indicate that retail footfall is sure to rise even further during the coming weeks as the Government continues to relax restrictions. Further data from the study highlights what consumers have missed most during lock down are restaurants and cafes (32%), fashion (21%) and entertainment (16%) so it is expected that consumers will continue to flock to retail destinations once both restaurants and cinemas are allowed to reopen,” the analyst says.

The urgency to get Scotland and Wales reopened is illustrated by comparing their footfall to England on Monday. While traffic across all of retail was up by almost 42% in England, it was down 4.3% in Scotland and up by only 8.3% in Wales.

Northern Ireland, which reopened at the end of last week, saw footfall rise by 29.1%

Week on week % change in footfall – Mon 15th June up to 12pm
 

England

Northern Ireland  

Scotland

 

Wales

UK High Streets 51.7% 31.4% -3.1% 12.1%
UK Retail Parks – all 25.1% -0.2% -5.9% 9.0%
UK Retail Parks – high street retailers 39.1% n/a -11.2% 9.0%
UK Shopping Centres 37.0% 22.2% -5.4% -0.1%
UK Retail Destinations 41.7% 29.1% -4.3% 8.3%
Year on Year % change in footfall – Mon 15th June up to 12pm
 

England

Northern Ireland  

Scotland

 

Wales

UK High Streets -41.2% -47.5% -75.1% -48.8%
UK Retail Parks – all -15.1% 2.9% -45.9% -50.2%
UK Retail Parks – high street retailers -16.0% n/a -80.3% -45.7%
UK Shopping Centres -37.9% -37.3% -72.5% -69.6%
UK Retail Destinations -34.2% -44.9% -67.5% -54.4%

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1 Comment

  1. Americans are desperately Googling “Footfall” !
    Don’t think Donald Trump has it in his vocabulary as yet. Most Americans are more than likely thinking attendance at off season NFL, Soccer and Rugby games.

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