Footfall at UK retail destinations surged last week, boosted by warm weather and the half-term holiday, according to research released on Monday by retail analysts Springboard.
Footfall at all retail destinations rose 11.6% from the week before, with footfall on high streets up 17.4%, while shopping centres and retail parks saw increases of 8.7% and 2.3%, respectively.
Footfall in coastal and historic town centres was significantly better, up 37.1% and 24.8%, respectively.
The south-west was a particularly bright spot as visitors flocked to resorts, with the biggest rise in footfall of any part of the UK, at 18.8% overall and 30.8% for high streets. Footfall in Central London grew 23.8% and city centres elsewhere in the UK saw growth of 19.3%.
Diane Wehrle, Insights Director at Springboard, said: “A combination of the late May bank holiday, incredible weather and the school half term holiday had a hugely beneficial effect on customer activity in UK retail destinations last week; it not only led to the greatest weekly increase in footfall since the reopening of non-essential retail in April, but also the most modest annual decline since the start of the pandemic.
“Inevitably visitors wanted to be outside to enjoy the weather, so by far the greatest benefit was seen by high streets, where the rise in footfall from the week before was double that in shopping centres, and eight times that in retail parks. Staycations clearly fuelled an increase in footfall in coastal towns which surpassed that in any other type of high street, and a rise in footfall in high streets in the south-west that was nearly double the increase in high streets across the UK and in Greater London.”
