Seaside towns enjoyed increase in high street traffic
Following a slow start to the end of May bank holiday, shopper traffic increased by 6.6 per cent throughout half term week compared with the previous week.

The news will be welcomed by retailers, because it follows a comment from the BRC that the industry is now in recession. According to shopper traffic analyst FootFall, numbers were especially good at seaside towns as holidaymakers flocked to the coast.

FootFall market analyst Sheelah Turner acknowledged that the increased shopper volumes had not translated into healthy sales for the industry, but this was because of retailers' expansion policies.

She said: 'Despite gloomy predictions about recessions, retail sales in total are still ahead of last year, albeit by an increasingly slim margin, although some stores are down on a like-for-like basis.

'Part of the explanation is that retailers continue to add new trading space. For most of the past decade, the rate of growth in new space has run behind growth in consumer spending so there have been overall gains in both like-for-like and total sales.'

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