Retailers return to stores even as footfall dips
UK high streets are getting less and less empty as the economic recovery continues, even as fewer shoppers actually head for shops.
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Springboard revealed this morning that the vacancy rate in UK town centres had dropped to just 10.1 per cent in July, half a percentage point down from the proportion just three months earlier.
The proportion in London is even lower, with just seven per cent of stores empty, fewer than any other region of the country.
The trend comes despite another drop in footfall. Foot traffic into UK stores dropped by 0.6 per cent in the year to July, and 0.5 per cent on average in the last quarter.
Bizarrely, footfall in Britain has dropped mostly steeply in London, down by 1.8 per cent in the year to July. The number of shoppers rose in just two regions, the south west of England and Scotland.
When the UK’s retailers are broken down into sectors, high streets have been hit hardest. Foot traffic was down 1.7 per cent in July, compared to last year.
The BRC’s Helen Dickinson said that the industry still had cause for concern: “It is still the case that every 10th shop remains unoccupied. This reinforces the need for a fundamental overhaul of commercial property taxes, which would increase retailers’ confidence about investing in new or existing retail premises.”
The BRC have previously pointed to shoppers shopping online and collecting from stores as an explanation for the declining number of people heading to high streets, while online sales take up an ever-rising share of purchases.
Lloyds Bank yesterday also reported that consumer confidence continued rising in July, after a minor decline during June.
The increased confidence was driven by a decline in essential spending, which dropped by 0.5 per cent on the same month last year.
Lloyds say this is the first time that essential spending has declined since the survey began. The group also recorded an increase in confidence about future spending, even following the drop in real wages recorded last week. Despite the improvement, 20 per cent more people still feel that they have less money left in their pockets after paying bills, than feel the amount is increasing.