Warm weather over August bank holiday weekend boosts UK footfall

Warm and sunny weather over the August bank holiday weekend saw footfall rise by 5.3% across all UK retail destinations over Saturday and Sunday - 27 and 28 August - compared to the weekend before, and footfall was also up 7.1% compared to the same weekend in 2021.

UK high streets saw an average climb of 8.7% in footfall over Saturday and Sunday, though consumers used bank holiday Monday, 29 August, to travel or stay home, with footfall down -6.4% across UK destinations, according the latest data from retail experts Springboard.

Coastal towns, historic towns and market towns all saw spikes in footfall, with coastal towns particularly benefitting on Sunday, as footfall was up 24.3% on the previous week.

Diane Wehrle, Insights Director at Springboard, said: “The favourable weather over the bank holiday encouraged shoppers to visit UK retail destinations, with a rise in footfall from the week before of +5.4% on Saturday and +5.3% on Sunday.

“High streets benefited from the warm and sunny weather, and were the winners with footfall +8% higher than the week before on Saturday and +9.4% higher on Sunday.

“Monday appeared to be a day for consumers to either travel or to stay home, with a drop in footfall from the previous week of -6.4% across all UK destinations. The drop in activity on Monday was driven by high streets and shopping centres, where footfall declined from the week before by -10.1% and -11.5% respectively.

“However, footfall in retail parks rose by +6.8% as shoppers replenished food and groceries for the week ahead.

“Across the different types of high streets, the clear winners were those towns that are attractive to visitors, with a strong uplift on Saturday and Sunday in coastal and historic towns, and also in market towns and in regional cities outside of London across the UK.

“On Sunday footfall in coastal towns was +24.3% higher than the previous week and +17.7% higher in historic towns. Shoppers also visited city centres across the UK over the weekend, with an average rise in footfall of +10.4% over Saturday and Sunday, versus just +3.1% in Central London.

“The increased activity over the weekend meant that there was a clear uplift in activity from last year. Over both Saturday and Sunday footfall was +7.1% higher than on the same days last year across all retail destinations and +10.2% higher in high streets.

“The gap from 2019 over Saturday and Sunday also narrowed to -10.6% across all retail destinations, and just -5.2% in high streets.”