High street recovery from lockdown stalled in September as summer ended, says Centre for Cities

Consumer spending fell in almost every city and large town in UK as Autumn approached

• Double digit drops in visitor footfall for many UK tourist destinations this September
• Almost everywhere saw a fall in consumer spending as summer concluded
• But the 10pm curfew made little change to visitor numbers, with a number of areas still above pre-lockdown levels of footfall

The recovery of the UK’s high streets stalled in September as many cities’ and towns’ summer booms ended. This is according to the latest data from the Centre for Cities High Streets Recovery Tracker in partnership with Nationwide Building Society.

Overall footfall in the centres of cities and large towns increased by just one percentage point last month. This is 17 percentage points lower than the increase seen in July and August.

Consumer spending in city and town centres also fell almost everywhere – in many places significantly. While Bournemouth had the biggest increase in visitors this summer, in September the amount of money being spent there fell by 46 percentage points – the most of all the cities studied.

Additionally, Bournemouth and many other tourist destinations such as Blackpool, Brighton, York and Edinburgh saw large drops in the numbers of visitors in September as the summer holidays ended, raising concerns that their initial recovery from Covid-19 may have been short lived.  

Cities and large towns showing the biggest drops in footfall this September
Rank	City	Percentage point fall in footfall in September
1	Bournemouth	-31
2	Blackpool	-25
3	Swansea	-16
4	Brighton	-14
5	York	-14
6	Edinburgh	-12
7	Southampton	-11
8	Southend	-10
9	Cardiff	-10
10	Liverpool	-10
UK urban average: 1 percentage point

Cities and large towns showing the biggest drops in spending this September
Rank	City	Percentage point fall in spending in September
1	Bournemouth	-46
2	Middlesbrough	-43
3	Blackpool	-39
4	Birkenhead	-29
5	Liverpool	-28
6	Brighton	-28
7	Wigan	-26
8	Newport	-25
9	Preston	-25
10	Cardiff	-24
UK urban average: -9 percentage points

Data from the end of September suggests little indication that the 10pm curfew on pubs and restaurants had an effect on footfall, which overall has not fallen as a result of the measures. 

Cities and large towns showing the biggest drops in footfall this September
Cities with the highest footfall as a percentage of pre-lockdown average	Cities with the lowest footfall as a percentage of pre-lockdown average
Rank			Rank
1	Basildon	132	1	London	35
2	Chatham	129	2	Manchester	51
3	Birkenhead	123	3	Cardiff	51
4	Blackpool	116	4	Birmingham	55
5	Burnley	112	5	Oxford	55
6	Doncaster	108	6	Liverpool	59
7	Telford	107	7	Edinburgh	60
8	Southend	105	8	Leeds	61
9	Wigan	103	9	Glasgow	62
10	Bournemouth	102	10	Newcastle	65
UK urban average: 64%

The persistently low numbers of people going back to work in city centres, particularly in big cities, reinforces the concerns for the future of shops, cafes, restaurants and bars that depend on office workers for custom.      

On average, across large cities and towns just one in five workers have now returned to their place of work. In London, Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds and Oxford the figure is even lower – at around 15%. Meanwhile in Basildon and Mansfield, the figure has reached almost half. 

Centre for Cities’ Chief Executive Andrew Carter said: “Many places in the UK benefited from the good weather, Eat Out To Help Out and domestic holiday makers. But it’s clear that this was a seasonal boom and with winter approaching, Covid cases rising and the prospect of more local lockdowns, policy makers need to think hard about how to support places through the difficult months ahead.

“The Job Support Scheme and related measures will help but, as the Chancellor said, it can’t support every job. However, there is a still risk that many of the local amenities that many of us have made use of this summer could be lost in the months ahead. So, I’d like to see the Chancellor set out how he proposes to protect these for us to enjoy once again when it is once again safe to do so.

“Greater devolution of powers and responsibilities, such as those expected in the postponed devolution white paper would have been one way for to help places help themselves so the Government should press ahead with doing this as soon as possible.”