Retail footfall down a third in October
New figures have shown that footfall in UK retail destinations remained a third lower at the end of last month compared to October 2019.
The data from Springboard reveals that overall footfall declined by 31.5% compared to a year-on-year drop of 28.2% in September. Looking at the individual shopping destinations, footfall decreased by 39.8% in high streets and by 33.1% and 11.9% respectively in shopping centres and retail parks.
In Wales, where a two week firebreaker lockdown was introduced, high street footfall in the final week of the month dropped by 78.5%. Meanwhile, the closure of hospitality venues in Northern Ireland meant that footfall there fell by 50.3% in the week.
The figures also show that the impact was less severe in England. In areas in the north, Yorkshire and the East Midlands where tier three restrictions were in operation, high street footfall dropped by less than 2% between the second week of the month and the fourth.
Springboard is expecting footfall to plummet by around 80% year-on-year during the current month long lockdown across England.
Photo by Georgia Hawkins
