Start of school holidays boosts UK footfall

The first week of the school summer holidays last week saw footfall rise by 4.8% across all UK retail destinations compared to the week before.

From 21-27 July, there was a jump of 6.9% in shopping centres, followed by a 4.4% uplift in high streets and a 3.3% rise in retail parks, according the latest data from retail analysts MRI Software.

Compared to 2023 levels there was a modest rise in activity of 1.1% in all UK retail destinations, led mainly by high streets at 3%.

However, shopping centres saw a decline of 2.5% in year-on-year footfall, highlighting the impact of families vacationing abroad this year - likely encouraged by a weak start to the British summer. Retail parks also saw footfall decrease by 1.1% year-on-year.

Jenni Matthews, Marketing & Insights Director at MRI Software, said: "A boost in retail footfall coincided with the start of the school summer holidays for many across the UK last week when compared with the week before. However, the fact that many may have decided to vacation abroad was particularly noticeable in shopping centre footfall declining year-on-year.

"Overall, footfall rose steadily each day week-on-week with a particularly strong start to the week. This is likely to be in response to the significant drop in activity experienced in the week before on Monday - when many retail stores and destinations chose to adjust their opening hours following the Euro’s final (on Sunday 14 July).

"That upward trend continued as footfall rose each day with shopping centres seeing the greatest increases, which could signal the start of the summer holidays as families looked to destinations offering a full family experience consisting of retail stores, leisure and dining options.

"Coastal towns emerged as the clear winners as the long awaited British summer emerged, with footfall rising by 9.1% week-on-week. Regional cities outside of London also witnessed a healthy boost in activity of 7.4%.

"With regional variations in schools breaking for the summer, MRI Software’s Central London ‘Back to Office’ benchmark revealed a modest rise in footfall of 2.5%, however the annual rise was much more significant at 7.8%.

"Regionally, footfall rose steadily aside from Wales where it declined by 2.4% week on week and 6% year on year. This contrasts with the rises experienced in southern parts of the UK where footfall rose by an average of 5.4% and by 4.7% in Scotland."