Retailers have suffered a slow start to the year, with shopper numbers falling to 17% below pre-pandemic levels in January.
Research by the British Retail Consortium showed that high street footfall was 24.2% lower than the same month in 2020, while shopping centres were 37.5% lower. Retail parks experienced a slump of 13%, a 3.8% fall on December.
London continues to be the region hit most severely by the slump in shopper numbers, down by 28.9% compared with 2020 levels, against a 9.8% fall in the North West. But at least restaurant bookings have gone up.
