UK retailers struggle in face of empty office blocks and public transport concerns

UK footfall remained well below normal levels in August, although retailers were boosted by the last days of the Eat Out to Help Out campaign, and back to school shopping, according to research from the British Retail Consortium and ShopperTrak.

It decreased by 34.8% in August, with only a 7.3 percentage point improvement from July.

Footfall on high streets declined by 41.7% year on year. This was the worst performing location in August, falling below shopping centres for the first time since April 2018.

Retail parks saw footfall decrease by 11.1% year-on-year. Wider open spaces, a higher proportion of supermarkets and larger stores quicker to reopen helped to shelter them from a steeper decline.

Shopping centre footfall dropped by 37.4% year-on-year. This was over 10 percentage points shallower than in July, but remained below its 12-month average decline of 32.2%.

Helen Dickinson, Chief Executive at the BRC, says: “In-store discounting and demand for school wear helped lure some customers back to the shops, but with many office blocks still empty and much of the public avoiding public transport, footfall is not returning to towns and city centres and this is having a devastating effect on the local economies in these areas.”

“While many businesses have been investing in making workplaces safer, we are unlikely to see significant growth in footfall while government advice remains to ‘work from home if you can.’ Unless this changes, more should be done to encourage people to travel and reassure them that public transport is safe.”

“Government should also recognise that, while footfall is so low, many businesses will not be able to manage their fixed costs – rent and business rates in particular – and unnecessary job losses and store closures will follow,” she concludes.