UK sees deepest decline in footfall since February 2014

By

Cajsa Lykke Carlson

Published
Jul 19, 2016

The latest figures from the BRC-Springboard footfall and vacancies monitor reveal that footfall in the UK fell 2.8% year-on-year in June 2016, a big drop from the 0.3% increase seen in May.

This is the sharpest decline in footfall seen since February 2014, and marks the fifth time in the last eight months that footfall has declined more than 2%. The figures were the worst on the high street, where footfall fell 3.7% year-on-year. Footfall declined 2.3% in shopping centres and 1% in retail parks, the first drop in retail park footfall since December 2013.

However, BRC CEO Helen Dickinson OBE remained positive, saying: "Despite today’s figures showing the deepest decline in footfall since February 2014, the same period has seen UK retail sales rise. June has seen many distractions from Euro 2016 to Wimbledon so heading out to the shops seems to have slipped down the priority list for many. In the coming months we all must redouble our efforts to remind customers that now is a great time to get out into their local communities."

Diane Wehrle, Marketing and Insights Director at Springboard, added: “With such major political and economic news in June, it is unsurprising that there was drop in footfall of 2.8 per cent across the UK in June."