UK footfall dips for first time since reopening

Since venues were given the green light to open their doors on 4 July, footfall had been slowly increasing across the country over the past few weeks, reaching 53% below the February footfall average on 18 July (an improvement from -70% the week before reopening).

However, this week footfall dipped across the country by one percentage point, to -54%, for the first time since the relaunch of the sector.

When broken down by major cities, the data revealed a mixed picture, with certain areas falling in footfall and others increasing significantly.

London (down 4%), Manchester (down 3%) and Bristol (down 1%) all fell in footfall this Saturday, whilst other cities including Birmingham (up 11%) and Newcastle (up 10%) saw a substantial rise.

Confidence in Scotland and Wales continued to grow this week, with Cardiff (up 4%), Edinburgh (up 6%) and Glasgow (up 6%) all seeing growth on Saturday.

In line with the national trend, footfall in the suburbs dipped this Saturday (down 4% to -54%), but returned to growth on Sunday (at -43% compared to last week’s -45%).

Though recorded before the mandatory mask rule came into effect, the shopping districts all showed a positive increase in footfall Monday through to Wednesday last week, with Bayswater seeing its closest pre-lockdown comparison on Tuesday and Wednesday at -41% of the February average.