Footfall for the week following so called Freedom Day remained stubbornly subdued despite schools breaking up for summer and the heatwave weather conditions.
For the week from July 18 to 25, footfall across UK retail destinations rose by just 3.3% from the week before and remains 23.3% lower than in the same week in 2019.
There was a spike on July 19, the day all covid restriction measures fell from the statute book, of 16.5%, but from Tuesday onwards, when the heat intensified, the uplift from the week before was much more modest averaging just 1.7%.
Springboard, which compiles the data, says the effect of the intense heat, the end of the school summer term on Tuesday and the nervousness amongst shoppers created by the “pingdemic” was evident in the results.
The heat drove people out of cities and towards coastal areas with Greater London footfall falling 0.7% while the southwest and east of England registered rises of 5.4% and 6.5%.
