// High streets witnessed a 4% rise in footfall last week
// Retail parks and shopping centres declined 4.4% and 2.3% respectively
// Footfall dropped by 21.7% in advance of the national lockdown on March 23 last year
New research has shown that footfall across UK retail destinations rose by 0.5 per cent last week from the week before.
The increase came as high streets witnessed a four per cent rise in footfall, while both retail parks and shopping centres declined 4.4 per cent and 2.3 per cent respectively.
This is a massive difference from the same week in 2020 where footfall dropped by 21.7 per cent in advance of the national lockdown on March 23 last year, Springboard found.
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The decline last year means that the annual change of 40.8 per cent last week looks more favourable than it has done since the summer of 2020.
Footfall rose by at least five per cent from the week before, reaching 7.8 per cent in major city centres outside London.
The impact of the easing of restrictions in Wales and schools returning in Scotland was evident, with increases in high street footfall in both nations of 17 per cent and 19.4 per cent respectively, versus just three per cent in England.
“Footfall across UK retail destinations continued to strengthen last week, with a modest rise from the week before,” Springboard insights director Diane Wehrle said.
“At the same time, the annual decline improved significantly but this is a distortion created by a huge drop in footfall in the same week last year as we approached the start of the first Lockdown on Monday 23rd March 2020.”
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