Retail footfall recovery “slow but steady”

New figures have shown there was a “slow but steady” post-pandemic recovery for UK retail destinations in 2022.

The gap with pre-pandemic footfall remained significant with UK footfall down 14.2% across the year, but this was an improvement from the -20.8% figure recorded in January 2022.

The data from retail specialist Springboard shows that consumer localism slowed down the retail recovery in Central London, where footfall was down 17.8% on 2019 figures between May and December.

Hybrid working had an impact on high streets where weekday footfall remained 18.2% below 2019 levels across the year. However, the gap was smaller at weekends at 11.8% below.

Meanwhile retail parks were more resilient with footfall down just 3.7% on pre-pandemic levels. Springboard said the locations benefited from pandemic spending patterns and the fact that they were easier to reach by car during rail strikes.