BRC/Springboard Footfall Monitor September 2014 Covering the five weeks 31 August October 2014

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1 Strictly Embargoed until hrs Monday 20 October 2014 OUT-OF-TOWN FOOTFALL CONTINUES POSITIVE TREND UK Total Retail Footfall* % change year-on-year High Street Out-of- Town Shopping Centre Summary September Jul Sept 14 Average *figures supplied by Springboard Footfall in September was 0.9% down on a year ago, up on the 1.1% fall in August and in line with the three-month average of a 0.9% decline. Out-of-Town reported the only rise, 0.5% higher than a year ago, while footfall on the high street was down 0.6% on the previous year Footfall in shopping centres was 2.6% down on the previous year for September, the deepest decline since October All regions and countries with the exception of South East (1.4%), Northern Ireland (0.2%) and Scotland (2.0%) reported declining footfall. Diane Wehrle, Retail Insights Director at Springboard, said: The UK result for September belies the impact on footfall of the unusually warm weather. The drop in footfall of 0.9 per cent is modest and better than the drop of 1.1 per cent recorded in August, however, if the weather had been more akin to the norm for this time of year it is likely the result would have been far more favourable. Being dominated by fashion and the fact that it was fashion sales that were the hardest hit - it is not surprising that the greatest toll is on shopping centres, although the degree of increase in footfall in out of town locations that we have come to expect is also greatly reduced. Whilst out of town locations still recorded a positive result in September - reflecting the positive sales in furniture and household goods - the fact that the increase in footfall is by far the most modest of any month in 2014 suggests this channel has felt the impact of the poor performance in fashion - a strong indicator that their success now also hinges on this sector. Helen Dickinson, British Retail Consortium Director General, said: September s footfall figures are a bit of a mixed bag. Out-of-town footfall continues to grow compared to last year which shows that consumers are increasingly confident. Demand for big ticket items continues to be strong with furniture outperforming all other categories. The South East also fared well showing growth in footfall for September of 1.4 per cent, which is in contrast to the slight decreases in footfall across the other English regions overall. To look at the figures initially they seem slightly gloomier than they actually are. Despite a dip for the month of 0.9 per cent, largely due to less visits to indoor shopping centres, footfall was up on the 1.1 per cent fall for August which shows that it is going in the right direction. As online sales increase overall we can see how shopping is changing and retailers are adapting. The industry is working hard on providing great online shopping experiences for consumers and this too impacts footfall. However, with Christmas fast approaching footfall is only set to increase on the high street, out-of-town and in shopping centres. 1

2 Country and Region Footfall Analysis Footfall across the UK in September averaged (-0.9%). Only one region in England reported footfall above the UK average South East (1.4%) Scotland experienced the greatest rise in footfall, reporting a rise of 2.0% on the previous year. Northern Ireland experienced an increase of 0.2% in footfall after a 4.2% rise the previous month, while Wales reported a footfall decline of 1.1%. Footfall % change year-on-year: Country Analysis Weighted UK average Footfall -0.9 Scotland 2.0 Northern Ireland 0.2 Wales

3 Country and Region Analysis Footfall Rates Country analysis England Footfall: Footfall: September 2014 Jul - Sept 2014 % change on year ago Greater London West Midlands South East South West East Midlands East North & Yorkshire Northern Ireland Wales Scotland Weighted UK Average Footfall Graph: 3-month rolling average - % change year-on-year 6.0% 4.0% 2.0% 0.0% - 2.0% - 4.0% - 6.0% - 8.0% Sep- 11 Nov- 11 Jan- 12 Mar- 12 May- 12 Jul- 12 Sep- 12 Nov- 12 Jan- 13 Mar- 13 May- 13 Jul- 13 Sep- 13 Nov- 13 Jan- 14 Mar- 14 May- 14 Jul- 14 Sep- 14 % change year- on- year High Street Out- of- town Shopping Centre Source: BRC-Springboard 3

4 Footfall Data - % Change Year-On-Year: UK High Street Out-of-Town Shopping Centre 4 Weighted* Average September October November December January February March April May June July August September Jul Sept 14 average Footfall Data - % Change Year-On-Year: Country Analysis* UK Scotland Northern Ireland Wales September October November December January February March April May June July August September Jul Sept 14 average Footfall Data - % Change Year-On-Year: Regional Analysis* Greater South East South West North & East London East Midlands West Midlands Yorkshire June July August September Jul Sept 14average

5 Footfall Data - % Change Month-On-Month: UK High Street Out-of-Town Shopping Centre September October November December January February March April May June July August September Vacancy Data Country Analysis UK Scotland Northern Ireland Wales July October January April July October January April July Vacancy Data England Analysis Greater South East South West North & East London East Midlands West Midlands Yorkshire July October January April July October January April July

6 Notes to editors Footfall Measure The BRC/Springboard Retail Footfall Monitor gathers data on customer activity in town and city centre locations, and in out of town shopping locations, throughout the UK using the latest generation automated technology. The Monitor records over 60 million footfall counts per week at over 600 counting locations in 227 different shopping sites in 142 towns and cities across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The Monitor covers the main centres in each nation/region and a representative sample of secondary and smaller town centres. We only have data available for the regions covered in this release. The Monitor provides the only available broad-based measures of the footfall performance of town centre and out of town shopping locations in the UK. *Starting with the Monitor published in November 2012, figures are weighted by an estimate of footfall by channel (high streets, out of town and shopping centres). *Starting with December 2012, the country and region figures are also weighted by channel. Previous regional data is for the high street only. Vacancy Rates Springboard gathers vacancy rates in towns and cities via an online survey of town centre managers in 450 locations throughout the UK. The vacancy rate is defined as the percentage of the ground floor units in the town centre that are vacant, and a vacant unit is regarded as one which is not trading at the time of the survey (whether or not it is let). The latest survey was carried out in April Starting with the Monitor published in November 2012, vacancy rate figures are weighted by an estimate of regional retail sales. Media Enquiries British Retail Consortium 21 Dartmouth Street London SW1H 9BP Media: Lizzie Costelloe Senior Associate Director Rain Communications lizzie.costelloe@raincommunications.co.uk The British Retail Consortium (BRC) is the UK's leading retail trade association. It represents the full range of retailers, large and small, multiples and independents, food and non-food, online and store based. Springboard is a leading provider of automated customer counting services, delivering solutions across the entire range of customer generating environments: high streets, shopping centres, retail parks, conference, leisure and entertainment venues, transport interchanges. (C) British Retail Consortium (2014). The contents of this report and those of all ancillary documents and preparatory materials are the sole property of BRC and are not to be copied, modified, published, distributed or commercially exploited other than with the express permission of BRC. All rights reserved. 6