London and Southeast bounce back as rate of footfall growth jumps fourfold

All retail destinations enjoyed big upticks in footfall with shopping centres faring the best, surging 7.1% on the previous week, according to the latest figures from Springboard.

High streets saw a 3.2% increase and retail parks registered gains of 2.7%, compared with the previous week. 

The data noted that all destinations across the UK last week saw “a significant acceleration” in footfall compared with previous weeks. 

Both Greater London and the Southeast experienced the largest increases in footfall, up 6.8% and 7.1% respectively. 

Springboard noted these figures were particularly impressive given that both regions had been reporting falling footfall figures in previous weeks. For the same week in 2019, Greater London only saw a 1.6% increase in footfall, while the Southeast saw a 2.2% uptick. 

Footfall as a whole in retail parks is now just 10.6% down on pre-coronavirus levels. The recovery of shopping centres and high streets has further to go, however, still down year on year by 32.4% and 39.1% respectively. 

Despite the heartening increases over the last week, Springboard said central London was still lagging behind pre-coronavirus footfall levels by 61.2%, while other regional cities were 49.8% down year on year. 

In contrast, local high streets and coastal towns have been experiencing footfall upticks as consumers continue to stay local and travel within the UK. 

Springboard’s marketing and insights director Diane Wehrle said: “It seems that the increased quarantine measures imposed last week on a number of overseas destinations are having a positive impact on UK footfall.

“Footfall in UK retail destinations last week not only rose on a week-on-week basis, but the uplift was more than four times as large as the week before, and two and a half times as large as the same week last year. 

“The outcome is a further incremental recovery in footfall compared with 2019, and the 16th consecutive week in which the annual decline has lessened, which offers a glimmer of hope for retailers.”