London shopper numbers surge as return of indoor dining drives up trips to city centre
Shopper numbers in central London increased sharply last week as the return of indoor hospitality helped to drive up footfall.
Footfall in central London jumped 11.8 per cent week on week as more people flocked to the capital to take advantage of the further easing of lockdown measures.
Across the UK as a whole, footfall increased 1.1 per cent. High streets enjoyed the biggest uptick in shoppers, with footfall rising 2.4 per cent, while shopping centres posted a one per cent increase.
This offset a 1.7 per cent decline in footfall at retail parks, according to the latest data from Springboard.
The figures showed the increase in shopper numbers came primarily after 5pm, as the reopening of indoor dining helped Brits brave the bad weather and head into town.
UK high streets enjoyed a four per cent increase in footfall during these evening peaks, rising to 16.3 per cent for central London.
High streets in outer London and market towns took a hit, however, as people opted for larger destinations following the latest stage of reopening.
The figures will come as a boost to beleaguered retail and hospitality businesses, which have suffered a huge hit to trading during lockdown.
However, overall UK footfall remains almost 29 per cent lower than in 2019 across all retail destinations.
“The reopening of indoor dining on Monday of last week certainly supported footfall in UK retail destinations in face of prolonged and often severe rain across virtually all of the UK for much of the week,” said Diane Wehrle, insights director at Springboard.
“However, it was largely high streets that benefitted, where footfall rose by more than twice as much as in shopping centres and where the rise contrasted with a drop in activity in retail parks.
“Despite the uplift in footfall last week from the week before, there is still significant ground to be made up as footfall across all UK retail destinations remains more than a quarter below the 2019 level. Retail parks, which didn’t see any uplift in footfall last week, remain the most resilient of the three destination types.”