February footfall figures best in nine months says BRC
UK retail footfall fell by 0.5% year-on-year in February to mark an improvement on the 1.2% fall seen in January.
Figures released by the British Retail Consortium and Springboard in their monthly footfall monitor show that shopping centres reported the largest decline with footfall dropping by 1.5%. Footfall in high streets fell by 0.6% while out-of-town locations recorded an increase of 1%.
Helen Dickinson, British Retail Consortium director general, said: ‘‘February largely saw good news overall with high footfall compared to the three month average, which was the best performance since May 2014. This was helped by a notable slowdown in a decline of high street footfall, as well as out of town strength.”
Looking at the regions in England, the East, South East, East Midlands and South West reported footfall growth of 3%, 2.9%, 2% and 0.9% respectively. Greater London, the West Midlands, and North and Yorkshire saw respective declines of 1.8%, 1.1% and 0.5%.
Scotland and Northern Ireland reported footfall increases of 1.2% and 1.3% respectively. Footfall in Wales remained negative but showed a marked improvement in February, rising to -2.3% from -4.6% in January.
Diane Wehrle, retail insights director at Springboard, said: “The positive footfall performance is more widely spread across the UK than in previous months, with six of the ten areas and nations of the UK recording positive growth in February. This indicates a retail landscape that is broadening geographically in strength and appeal, particularly as footfall in Greater London – so long the focus for retail activity – has declined in all but two months since January 2014.”
