Footfall drops 8.6 percent as sunshine fails to attract shoppers

The UK high street saw an overall 8.6 percent year-on-year drop in footfall despite the warm May bank holidays, figures show.

According to Ipsos’ UK Retail Traffic Weathermap, London and the south east saw the sharpest decline with 13.3 percent fewer shoppers on the high street compared with the same period last year.

The Midlands saw a decrease of 9.3 percent, Scotland and Northern Ireland experienced a 7.9 percent drop. Northern England and south west England and Wales saw declines of 4.5 percent and 5.5 percent respectively.

Compared with last month, the overall footfall for the May dipped slightly by 1.4 percent.

London and the south east and Northern England were the only two regions to see increases compared to April, recording figures of 1.7 percent and three percent respectively.

The Midlands saw a 1.5 percent decline, while Scotland and Northern Ireland attracted 0.5 percent less shoppers than in April. South west England and Wales saw the biggest drop with 4.3 percent less people on the high street.