Springboard records fall in pedestrian traffic
Footfall for last week dipped slightly, with a result of -0.8 per cent against last year, a significant improvement upon the result of -2.3 per cent for the same week in 2017. This was not reflected in the weekly change though, which saw numbers decline for the first time since June, falling – 2.6 per cent against the previous week with just Scotland and Northern Ireland subverting that with weekly growth of +2.0 per cent and +0.9 per cent.
The improvement in the annual Springboard Index result in comparison to that of 2017, was driven by a better result for high streets than they saw last year, with an annual decline of -1.2 per cent in 2018 in comparison to the -4.2 per cent of 2017. High street numbers grew Monday to Wednesday, but the decline was a result of the latter half of the week, no doubt a consequence of the change in weather of sunshine to rain. Retail parks remained steady in their growth, with a result of +1.1 per cent, an increase upon the +0.7 per cent of last year. Shopping centres saw the biggest annual drop, falling -1.8 per cent but this is the best result for 8 weeks and one of the better results for the year, against a current year to date of -3.1 per cent.
Scotland experienced the greatest improvement of the week, likely a consequence of the penultimate full week of school holidays across much of the country and hosting the European Championships, which will driving tourism throughout the country, resulting in an annual increase across all three location types with an (weighted according to spend) average increase of +1.3 per cent and the weekly rise.
