UK high street shopping centres report declining footfalls

Footfalls to UK's high streets and shopping centres declined 2.8 per cent and 2.4 per cent respectively in June, data collated by research firm Springboard and the British Retail Consortium showed.

Overall, footfalls to shopping destinations were down 1.5 per cent in the five weeks to 4 July, as against the same month last year. The high street decline was in part offset by an increase in the number of people shopping in retail parks, up 2.8 per cent.

Northern Ireland and Wales were the worst hit overall, with footfalls down 3.5 per cent and 3 per cent respectively.

BRC director general Helen Dickinson said, ''Retail parks have seen another increase in shopper numbers this month, which is good news for the retailers operating in these areas. However, the fundamental shift in the way people are shopping seems to be driving the sustained reduction in shopper numbers to both high streets and shopping centres.

''This is a clear demonstration that the reinvention of the high street is far from complete. The process of creating multi-use destinations in the heart of our towns and cities needs to continue in earnest if people are going to be drawn back to the high street. This has happened in some areas, but the energy and effort behind sharing best practice needs to be redoubled.''

The decline in shopper footfall was seen in all the regions with Northern Ireland, Wales and the South East reporting the largest fall. London, the UK's shopping mecca, also slid into negative territory in June, even as shopper numbers rose in May.

''On the surface an overall drop in footfall of 1.5 per cent does not appear to be hugely detrimental, however, it belies the long term decline in the attractiveness of urban retail destinations to shoppers'', said Diane Wehrle, marketing and insights director at Springboard.

Out-of-town locations were seeing more click-and-collect customers – people who bought online and collected in store as they often offered plentiful and free parking.

The decline in footfall on the high street though had not dissuaded overseas players from opening up shop in London, according to Savills, the property group.

Of the stores in London's exclusive Bond Street almost half now had foreign owners, while the number of foreign brands opening up on Oxford Street were up by a quarter since last year.