Springboard records increase in pedestrian traffic
Footfall for last week rose +1.2% against the same week last year and grew +8.0% in comparison to the week prior. There are a multitude of factors, which should be taken into consideration when understanding the results from last week, in addition of course to others including Brexit and consumer confidence. This year contained the run up to Mothering Sunday and warm Spring weather permeated throughout the country bringing people outside. In comparison, last year was the first week of Easter, with school holidays taking place across most of the UK and heavy rain on both Good Friday and Easter Saturday.
Against the previous week, the growth of +8.0% was universal across the location types and country, with every day last week seeing an improvement in footfall. The annual change though is more complex, with the overall Springboard Index masking the different fortunes of each location type.
Shopping centres, commonly boosted by school holidays, fell from +2.5% in 2018 down to -3.2%, a result which may be evened out once the holidays begin later this month. Retail parks also followed this trend, moving from +5.9% to -1.3%. Whereas high streets, which saw a decline of -6.6% last year, rallied with the combination of Mothering Sunday and sunshine to see an increase in footfall of +4.6%. It was the strength of this increase, which brought the overall Springboard Index (a weighted average of all location types) to a positive result.
