High streets and city centres continue to recover as footfall rises in key destinations

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Feb 13, 2023

High streets and city centres were once again the places to be for retailers in the latest trading week between 5 and 11 February.

Footfall across both destinations bounced back across the seven-day period following rail strikes disruption, alongside the return of workers to the office. according to footfall experts MRI Springboard.

UK high street footfall increased 13% compared to 2022 levels, three times greater than retail parks and shopping centres. while footfall across all UK retail destinations rose annually by 9.1%. 

Footfall at MRI Springboard’s Central London ‘Back to the Office’ benchmark, which tracks footfall around office hotspots, showed a 36.4% boost compared to 2022. Other cities also benefited, as annual footfall climbed 19% to regional cities excluding London.

By comparison, footfall outside city centres experienced more muted annual increases, up by just 6.6% annually at market towns and by 8.8% at historic towns. 

Despite the bounce-back, the gap against pre-pandemic levels remained visible last week. Against 2019 levels footfall was down 14.5% across UK retail destinations. Footfall in Central London remains 19.7% below pre-pandemic levels.