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Economy

Out-of-town footfall jumps 3.8%

Footfall in March was 0.2% higher than the same time last year, an improvement on the 0.5% fall in February. 

This is according to the BRC-Springboard Footfall and Vacancies Monitor which found footfall was above the three-month average of -0.5% and was the best overall footfall performance since March last year.

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. Despite the positive figures, high streets reported a decline in footfall of 1.4% – the only location to report a fall.

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Five regions and counties reported footfall above the UK average, with the East (3.4%), Scotland (1.7%), and the South West (1.4%) reporting the greatest increases.

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Helen Dickinson, director general at British Retail Consortium (BRC), said that the results show the ongoing transformational change in the retail industry with the “blurring lines” of physical and digital making the figures difficult to read in their monthly isolation. Despite this, she added that the footfall results are “encouraging.”

She 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.’’

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