BRC/Springboard Footfall and Vacancies Monitor February 2015 Covering the four weeks 01 February 28 February 2015

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Lindsay Martin
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1 Strictly Embargoed until hrs Friday 13 March 2015 FEBRUARY FOOTFALL FIGURES BEST IN NINE MONTHS UK Total Retail Footfall* % change year-on-year High Street Out-of- Town Shopping Centre February Dec 14 Feb 15 Average *Figures supplied by Springboard Summary Footfall in February was 0.5% lower than a year ago, an improvement on the 1.2% fall in January This is above the three-month average of -0.8% and best overall footfall performance since May 2014 Shopping Centres reported the largest decline, falling 1.5%, while high streets experienced a 0.6% decline in footfall, up on the 1.6% fall in January Footfall in out-of-town locations fared the best with a 1.0% increase year-on-year Four regions and countries reported footfall lower than a year ago, with Wales and Greater London reporting the greatest declines Diane Wehrle, Retail Insights Director at Springboard, said: It is gratifying that finally there is some good news for retail locations, as the 0.5 per cent drop in footfall across the UK in February is the best result since May 2014 and a significant improvement on the 2.9 per cent fall recorded in February And whilst retail parks continue to be the only retail environment that is consistently recording an increase in customer activity, it is positive that the decline in footfall in both high streets and shopping centres slowed in February. High streets performed particularly strongly given the structural change in retailing that has led to a long term decline in high street footfall, with February recording the most favourable result for the past five months. As importantly, in contrast to February 2014, footfall in high streets and shopping centres strengthened by a significant margin a 5.3 per cent drop in high street footfall in February 2014 has reduced to a marginal decline of just 0.6 per cent; and in shopping centres a decline of 1.5 per cent this February compares favourably to 2.4 per cent fall in February last year. Furthermore the positive footfall performance is more widely spread across the UK than in previous months, with six of the ten areas and nations of the UK recording positive growth in February. This indicates a retail landscape that is broadening geographically in strength and appeal, particularly as footfall in Greater London so long the focus for retail activity has declined in all but two months since January Helen Dickinson, British Retail Consortium Director General, said: February largely saw good news overall with high footfall compared to the three month average which was the best performance since May This was helped by a notable slowdown in a decline of high street footfall, as well as out of town strength. Although it's usually traditional to see us putting our feet up after the Christmas rush and January sales this doesn't seem to be the case for out of town shopping. We are still flocking for those big ticket items with an increase in footfall by one per cent. Shopping centres saw a predictable decline for this time of year and retailers will be preparing for increased footfall when consumers feel recovered from taking advantage of all the great Black Friday, Christmas and January offerings. 1

2 Country and Region Footfall Analysis Four regions in England reported positive footfall growth in February East (3.0%), South East (2.9%), East Midlands (2.0%) and South West (0.9%). Eight out of ten regions and nations of the UK showed an improvement in footfall in February, with only Greater London and the West Midlands reporting a worsening picture. Since January 2014, footfall in Greater London has declined in all but one month (March 2014), reporting footfall above the UK average only four times during this period. Scotland and Northern Ireland both reported footfall significantly above the UK average, up 1.2% and 1.3% respectively. Footfall in Wales remained negative but showed a marked improvement in February, rising to - 2.3% from -4.6% in January. Footfall % change year-on-year: Country Analysis Weighted UK average Footfall -0.5 Scotland 1.2 Northern Ireland 1.3 Wales

3 Country and Region Analysis Footfall Rates Country analysis England Footfall: Footfall: Feb 2015 Dec - Feb 2015 % 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% Feb- 12 May- 12 Aug- 12 Nov- 12 Feb- 13 May- 13 Aug- 13 Nov- 13 Feb- 14 May- 14 Aug- 14 Nov- 14 Feb- 15 % 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 Weighted* Average February March April May June July August September October November December January February Dec Feb 15 average Footfall Data - % Change Year-On-Year: Country Analysis* Footfall Data - % Change Year-On-Year: Regional Analysis* UK Scotland Northern Ireland Wales February March April May June July August September October November December January February Dec Feb 15 average Greater West South South East North & East London Midlands East West Midlands Yorkshire November December January February Dec Feb 15 average

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

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

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). 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: media@brc.org.uk. Stephanie Murray Rain Communications 7 Heddon Street London W1B 4BE Tel: Stephanie.Murray@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. 6

BRC/Springboard Footfall and Vacancies Monitor January 2015 Covering the four weeks 04 January January 2015

BRC/Springboard Footfall and Vacancies Monitor January 2015 Covering the four weeks 04 January January 2015 Strictly Embargoed until 00.01 hrs Friday 13 February 2015 Consumer Confidence Inspires Growth in Out-of-Town Footfall UK Town Centre Vacancy rate* January 2015 10.4% UK Total Retail Footfall* % change