Footfall increase slowed by rule of six and 10pm curfew

All retail destinations saw footfall collectively decline by 28.2% in the five weeks to October 3, as the government’s rule of six limit on people socialising and curfews for hospitality businesses came into force, according to the latest figures from Springboard. 

The 10pm closing time for restaurants and bars had the biggest effect in halting strong footfall recovery seen over the summer, with high street footfall falling 44.7% between 5pm and 8pm. 

Unsurprisingly, London and other cities were the hardest hit by the new measures, with the Square Mile and the West End seeing a 56.4% fall in footfall, while regional cities saw a 35.8% decline in September.

This was compared to a 24.2% dip in outer-London boroughs and 23.5% slump in market towns, which Springboard said showed “the first conclusive evidence of the importance to local economies of the working population”.

Springboard noted that the latest dataset “suggests there could be a fundamental long-term change in bricks-and-mortar retailing if working from home becomes an embedded long-term trend”.

In terms of individual retail destinations, high streets saw customer footfall drop 34.6% for the period, compared to a 31.5% fall for shopping centres and just a 10.8% dip on retail parks. 

Springboard said retail parks continued to outperform the wider sector with footfall during daytime trading hours in September just 7.3% lower than in 2019.