July heatwave keeps shoppers at home in blow for high street

Heatwave conditions continued to bear down on shopper footfall in July, with the high street particularly badly affected, figures suggest.

Total UK footfall was down 2.1% on a year earlier, but an improvement on the 3.4% drop seen in June, according to British Retail Consortium (BRC)-Sensormatic data.

High street footfall was down 3.8% year-on-year in July, up from the June’s 6.2% fall.

Shopping centre footfall was also down, by 1.4% year-on-year, although this was up from June’s drop of 2.5%.

open image in gallery

England recorded the weakest performance of any UK nation with an overall footfall drop of 3%, with London down 5.3%, highlighting the continued challenges facing larger urban centres during periods of extreme heat, Sensormatic said.

BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said: “The heatwave continued to bear down on retail footfall in July, with high streets worst affected.

“London was hit particularly hard as soaring temperatures made tube and train travel less attractive, with some commuters and shoppers opting to stay home.

“Nonetheless, it was still an improvement on the previous month’s figures, when record-breaking sunshine saw footfall fall by an even bigger margin.”

She said: “Climate change continues to deliver more and more extreme temperatures in the UK.

“Retailers are responding by investing in both mitigations – such as more air conditioning and more efficient refrigeration units – and in sustainability initiatives aimed at reducing carbon emissions.

“Unfortunately, business rates often punish stores for such investments, showing the need for government to look again at this broken system.”

Andy Sumpter, from Sensormatic, said six of the first seven months of this year performed worse than the same period last year.

He said: “The exceptionally hot and historically dry weather is likely to have been a significant factor, discouraging shopping trips and particularly impacting high streets.

“While the UK has yet another new prime minister, retail is yet to experience any meaningful ‘Burnham bounce’. For retailers, the focus remains on converting these more selective visits into meaningful spend as the summer progresses.”