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 year-on-year High Street Out-of- Town Shopping Centre January 2015-1.2-1.6 1.5-2.8 Nov 14 Jan 15 Average -1.4-2.4 1.2-1.5 *Figures supplied by Springboard Summary Footfall in January was 1.2% lower than a year ago, down on the 0.7% fall in December. Shopping Centre reported the largest decline, falling 2.8%, while high streets experienced a 1.6% decline in footfall, up on the 1.8% fall in December. Footfall in out-of-town locations fared the best with a 1.5% increase year-on-year. Wales reported the greatest fall in regional footfall, down 4.6% year-on-year. The national town centre vacancy rate in the UK was 10.4% in January 2015, an increase from October s rate of 10.3%. Diane Wehrle, Retail Insights Director at Springboard, said: The 1.2 per cent drop in footfall across the UK in January is a stark contrast to the 1.6 per cent increase in January 2014, and this contrast is heightened further by the fact that it also comes in the face of a modest increase in retail sales in January of 0.2 per cent. As it did so for virtually all of 2014, in January footfall continued to increase in retail parks whilst declining in both high streets and shopping centres. So while high streets and shopping centres still account for the majority of our shopping floorspace, the ongoing strengthening of retail parks is clear evidence that our urban shopping locations are losing market share. Without doubt this is due to both the challenge of the internet and the convenience of out-of-town locations for click-and-collect as they offer plentiful, accessible parking that is free of charge. Despite this, it is good news that the vacancy rate has increased only slightly, to 10.4 per cent; although the number of retail leases that are due to expire over this year suggests that this could rise further over the coming months - particularly as consumers are now demanding discounts, which squeeze margins and adversely impact profitability and long term business sustainability. Helen Dickinson, British Retail Consortium Director General, said: It has been heartening to see that footfall is up 1.5 per cent on January last year for out-of-town retail destinations. This reflects strong consumer confidence more of us are happier to splash out on big ticket items, particularly furniture, which we usually travel out of town to view and buy. January is traditionally strong for online sales and this year was no exception. This has undoubtedly impacted on footfall for high streets and shopping centres and is further evidence of the impact of our changing shopping habits. Retailers will be looking closely at these figures to help them harness the growth of e-retailing to drive consumers to their bricks and mortar stores. Click-and-collect services are an excellent example of how this is happening right now and innovations in this area are set to continue for some time to come. Rising numbers of vacant shop units are still a cause for concern. We have welcomed the government s pledge to review business rates on our recommendation however in order to make a real difference the review will need to be wide in scope and seek radical solutions. Many local councils are working hard on initiatives to inspire high streets and shopping centres to flourish and the BRC continues to support this work. Spreading best practice - such as supporting pop up shops, increasing digital connectivity and focusing on general town centre improvement is crucial if we are to drive down a vacancy rate that remains stubbornly above 10 per cent. 1
Country and Region Footfall and Vacancy Analysis Five regions in England reported footfall above the UK average East (1.2%), South East (1.0%), Greater London (-0.7%), West Midlands (-0.7%), and North & Yorkshire (-0.9%). Wales reported the largest decline in its footfall rate, down 4.6% in January. Scotland reported its first decline in footfall since June 2014, down 3.0%. Northern Ireland experienced a decline in footfall of 2.4%. Five regions of England had a vacancy rate lower than the UK average - the East (6.8%), Greater London (7.1%), the South East (8.9%), East Midlands (9.6%) and the South West (9.9%). Scotland and Wales reported a rise in their vacancy rates to 9.7% and 15.5% respectively. Northern Ireland reported a marginal fall in its vacancy rate to 16.3% in January 2015. Footfall % change year-on-year: Country Analysis Weighted UK average Footfall Vacancy Rate -1.2 10.4 Scotland -3.0 9.7 Northern Ireland -2.4 16.3 Wales -4.6 15.5 2
Country and Region Analysis Footfall Rates Country analysis Footfall: Footfall: Jan 2015 Nov- Jan 2015 % change on year ago England Greater London -0.7-1.1 West Midlands -0.7-0.8 South East 1.0 1.3 South West -1.3-1.8 East Midlands -1.4-2.1 East 1.2 1.9 North & Yorkshire -0.9-1.2 Northern Ireland -2.4-0.4 Wales -4.6-2.8 Scotland -3.0 0.0 Weighted UK Average -1.2-1.4 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% Jan- 12 Apr- 12 Jul- 12 Oct- 12 Jan- 13 Apr- 13 Jul- 13 Oct- 13 Jan- 14 Apr- 14 Jul- 14 Oct- 14 Jan- 15 % change year- on- year High Street Out- of- town Shopping Centre Source: BRC-Springboard 3
Footfall Data - % Change Year-On-Year: UK High Street Out-of-Town Shopping Centre Weighted* Average January 14-0.6 5.7 2.4 1.6 February -5.3 2.3-2.4-2.9 March 2.6 3.0-0.5 1.8 April -1.4 4.0-0.9-0.1 May -0.9 3.3-1.5-0.2 June -1.7 2.4-1.2-0.7 July -1.7 1.7-0.5-0.6 August -2.8 2.9-1.1-1.1 September -0.6 0.5-2.6-0.9 October -1.4 1.9-1.9-0.8 November -4.0 0.8-2.1-2.4 December -1.8 1.3-0.1-0.7 January 15-1.6 1.5-2.8-1.2 Nov Jan 15 average -2.4 1.2-1.5-1.4 Footfall Data - Change Year-On-Year: Country Analysis* Footfall Data - Change Year-On-Year: Regional Analysis* UK Scotland Northern Ireland Wales January 14 1.6-1.8-2.0 0.1 February -2.9-4.1-5.1-8.8 March 1.8-2.1 2.4-2.7 April -0.1 5.2 12.8-1.2 May -0.2 0.6 9.2-2.6 June -0.7-0.6 11.8-1.4 July -0.6 4.4-5.2-1.4 August -1.1 1.8 4.2-1.8 September -0.9 2.0 0.2-1.1 October -0.8 0.5-5.2-3.1 November -2.4 0.9-0.8-3.9 December -0.7 1.6 1.4-0.4 January 15-1.2-3.0-2.4-4.6 Nov Jan 15 average -1.4 0.0-0.4-2.8 Greater West South South East North & East London Midlands East West Midlands Yorkshire October -1.2-5.0 1.5-2.4 2.0 0.8 0.5 November -1.9 1.5-0.9-4.0-2.1 2.2-2.3 December 14-0.8-2.6 3.4-0.5-2.7 2.2-0.5 January 15-0.7-0.7 1.0-1.3-1.4 1.2-0.9 Nov Jan 15 average -1.1-0.8 1.3-1.8-2.1 1.9-1.2 4
Footfall Data - Change Month-On-Month: UK High Street Out-of-Town Shopping Centre January -23.7-17.4-24.7 February 3.9-0.5-0.1 March 7.7 3.1 0.3 April 5.0 6.5 2.9 May -1.7-1.3-2.0 June 3.7-0.5 1.0 July 2.9 2.3 3.7 August -0.8 0.4 0.1 September -4.0-4.0-3.9 October -1.3 2.9 3.7 November -0.7 1.0 1.8 December 6.7 7.6 16.0 January 2015-21.5-17.6-27.8 Vacancy Data Country Analysis UK Scotland Northern Ireland Wales January 2013 10.9 10.2 17.2 17.0 April 11.9 10.0 18.1 17.9 July 11.1 10.1 18.0 15.9 October 11.1 11.1 18.5 16.7 January 11.0 11.1 18.0 16.4 April 10.6 10.7 17.2 14.6 July 10.1 9.1 16.7 12.7 October 10.3 9.0 16.6 14.2 January 15 10.4 9.7 16.3 15.5 Vacancy Data England Analysis Greater South East South West North & East London East Midlands West Midlands Yorkshire January 2013 6.3 9.0 10.4 9.6 11.0 12.2 13.6 April 7.4 9.8 12.0 14.0 10.9 12.4 14.1 July 7.0 8.8 12.6 12.6 10.1 12.5 13.0 October 6.6 11.0 10.2 12.4 9.4 13.0 11.9 January 2014 6.4 9.7 10.9 13.9 10.0 12.0 11.8 April 6.0 10.3 11.0 11.9 8.9 12.1 11.4 July 7.0 8.2 11.0 11.2 8.6 12.4 11.5 October 7.8 8.3 9.6 11.2 8.6 12.9 11.8 January 2015 7.1 8.9 9.6 9.9 6.8 15.4 12.3 5
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 020 7854 8900 www.brc.org.uk Media: 0207 854 8924 media@brc.org.uk. Lizzie Costelloe Senior Associate Director Rain Communications 54-55 Wilton Road London SW1V 1DE www.raincommunications.co.uk Tel: 020 7494 4448 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. 6