// Footfall across UK retail destinations declined by 9.3% last week from the week before
// The return to work meant that there was a smaller decline in Springboard’s “Back to the Office Benchmark”
New data has revealed that footfall across UK retail destinations declined by 9.3 per cent last week from the week before – school half term week.
High street footfall and shopping centres saw respective drops of 10.9 per cent and 11.6 per cent, while retail parks experienced a smaller decline of 3.1 per cent
The figures from retail specialist Springboard also show that towns attracting tourists recorded the biggest declines from the week before.
Coastal towns were hardest hit with the number of visits falling by 20.7 per cent.
The drop back in footfall last week meant that the gap from the 2019 level widened once again, to -13.4 per cent versus -10.9 per cent in the week before.
However, the return to work meant that there was a noticeably smaller decline in Springboard’s “Back to the Office Benchmark”, where footfall dropped by 9.7 per cent versus 15.7 per cent across Central London as a whole.
Springboard insights director Diane Wehrle said: “Footfall in UK retail destinations fell back sharply last week, eliminating virtually all the uplift gained in the week before last during the school October half term break,”
“However, it is important to appreciate that this was an expected result, as footfall has dropped in the week post the October half term break in every year since Springboard starting publishing footfall benchmarks in 2009.
“With high streets and shopping centres recording the largest gains during the half term week, it was in these two destination types where footfall declined most with double-digit drops.
“The fall back to the pre-half term footfall level was not specific to any particular area, with all UK geographies recording declines. The impact of those returning to work last week after the half term break was clear to see, although it seems the hybrid of office and home working is still very much established.
“The drop in Springboard’s ‘Back to the Office’ footfall benchmark was two thirds of that in Central London as a whole, at the same time the decline in footfall in outer London and market towns – which are synonymous with home working – was half that in large city centres across the UK.”
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