Worst rain on record keeps London’s shoppers at home
GREATER London’s shops were the worst hit by the heavy summer rains compared to their rivals elsewhere in the country.
Footfall plummeted by 8.9 per cent in May, June and July in Greater London compared to the previous quarter, according to data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Springboard.
The dramatic drop compares to an 8.2 per cent drop in Scotland and a 7.3 per cent fall in the East.
Footfall weakened in all types of locations, particularly high streets which suffered a 5.5 per cent fall, compared to out-of-town locations which saw footfall drop 1.2 per cent. Shopping centres fared the best with just a 0.4 per cent drop.
Overall, footfall in the three months to July was 2.3 per cent lower than a year ago, and worse than the two per cent fall suffered in the previous quarter.
“Some of the wettest weather on record drove a sharp decline in shopper numbers over the quarter,” said the BRC director general Stephen Robertson.