March footfall figures best for a year
UK retail footfall edged up 0.2% year-on-year last month to mark the best overall footfall performance since March 2014.
Figures released by the British Retail Consortium and Springboard in their monthly footfall monitor show that high streets were the only location to report a decline with footfall dropping by 1.4%.
Footfall in out-of-town locations fared the best with a 3.8% increase year-on-year, while shopping centres reported a 0.4% rise.
Helen Dickinson, British Retail Consortium director general, said: “Out-of-town locations led the way in March with its fifteenth straight month of footfall growth. This story was echoed in shopping centres which posted its largest rise in shopper numbers since January 2014.
“Considering that this is only the second time in the last two years that we have seen positive footfall growth in this category, retailers can view these results as promising. We can be very pleased overall with the month’s performance although it is important to note that these figures are largely driven by the timing of the Easter bank holiday.’’
Looking at the regions in England, the South West, East Midlands and East reported footfall growth of 1.4%, 0.6%, and 3.4% respectively. Greater London, the West Midlands, South East, and North and Yorkshire saw respective declines of 0.7%, 1.7%, 0.7% and 0.3%.
Scotland and Northern Ireland reported footfall increases of 1.7% and 1.2% respectively. Footfall in Wales was 1.7% down in the month.
