High street footfall up 4.4% over bank holiday weekend

High streets have received a welcome boost over the bank holiday weekend, with footfall across the UK up 4.4% year-on-year. 

This is according to new figures from retail intelligence firm Springboard which found Saturday was the strongest day as families were “out in force” on the first day of the school summer half term.

Springboard said that coastal and historic towns were the “clear favourite” destinations with their footfall surging 14.1% and 13%, respectively.

Sunday’s showers caused a slight dip in footfall across UK high streets, down 1.7% year-on-year. However, this was followed by 6.7% growth on Monday as the weather improved, with footfall in regional cities surging by 20.9% when compared with the same time last year.

In contrast, footfall in retail parks was down every day over the weekend, resulting in an overall drop of 4.2%. Footfall in UK shopping centres was also down every day over the weekend, down by 3.1%.

Diane Wehrle, insights director at Springboard, says: “As UK schools’ summer half term begins at a time when consumer confidence is at a high, families were confidently out in force across UK high streets over the weekend, bringing a welcome boost to what has been a difficult start to the year for these destinations.”