Centre for Cities has published the latest update to its High Streets Recovery Tracker, covering September 2021. We have data for the 63 largest cities and towns in the UK.
Here are some embargoed topline trends from this month’s update:
Changes in footfall in September
Overall footfall continued to rise in the centres of the 63 largest cities and towns in the UK in September, the average rise was 8 percentage points.
The biggest increases in footfall were seen in Sheffield, Nottingham and Chatham.
However, ten large city and town centres recorded falls in footfall. The three places recording the largest drops in footfall were seaside resorts: Blackpool, Bournemouth and Southend.
Overall weekday footfall – an indicator of workers back in the office – rose from 60% of pre-pandemic levels at the end of August to 67% by the end of September – a 7 percentage point increase.
Cities with the largest increase in footfall in September
Rank
City
Change in footfall (percentage point)
Overall footfall level as of the last week of September (percentage of pre-pandemic average)
1
Sheffield
33
89
2
Nottingham
32
88
3
Chatham
26
101
4
Huddersfield
20
86
5
Bristol
20
81
Cities with the decrease in footfall in September
Rank
City
Change in footfall (percentage point)
Overall footfall level as of the last week of September (percentage of pre-pandemic average)
1
Blackpool
-37
123
2
Bournemouth
-29
94
3
Southend
-26
97
4
Reading
-23
72
5
Edinburgh
-14
80
Footfall as of the end of September
Overall, footfall had returned to pre-pandemic levels in six of the 63 large cities and town centres studied by the end of September: Blackpool, Swansea, Burnley, Chatham, Sunderland and Dundee.
Overall footfall remains lowest in London, at 49% of pre-pandemic levels it is now the only large city or town in the country where city centre footfall is not yet at half of pre-Covid levels. It’s weekday footfall – an indicator of workers back in the office – also remains the lowest in the UK, at 44% of pre-pandemic levels.
On average, weekday footfall at the end of September was 67% of pre-pandemic levels, with two places – Burnley and Chatham – back to pre-pandemic weekday footfall levels.
Cities with the highest overall footfall as of the end of September
Rank
City
Overall footfall level as of the last week of September (percentage of pre-pandemic average)
1
Blackpool
123
2
Swansea
104
3
Burnley
104
4
Chatham
101
5
Sunderland
100
Cities with the lowest overall footfall as of the end of September
Rank
City
Overall footfall level as of the last week of September (percentage of pre-pandemic average)
Visitor footfall to city and town centres across the UK drops in June after initial surge– with tourist hubs worse hit
Weekend visitors to Blackpool and Bournemouth almost halve in June
Big city centres continue to struggle with London seeing the weakest recovery of all centres
New data from Centre for Cities’ High Streets Recovery Tracker shows that the recovery of high streets stuttered in June as footfall fell back across the UK – raising concerns about the UK economy’s bounce-back from Covid restrictions.
Seaside and tourist destinations saw the sharpest drops in visitor numbers between the end of May and end of June, with visitors to central Blackpool and Bournemouth falling by by almost half.
Meanwhile, weekend visitors to other tourist destinations such as Brighton, York and Edinburgh also fell steeply.
Overall weekly footfall numbers fell by the end of June in 62 of the 63 city and town centres studied. On average, overall footfall in large city and town centres fell by seven percentage points.
City or large town(selected seaside and tourist destinations)
Weekend footfall Fall in footfall from last weekend of May to last weekend of June (percentage point)
Weekly footfallOverall fall in footfall from end of May to end of June (percentage point)
Blackpool
-45
-18
Bournemouth
-45
-15
Brighton
-39
-16
Southend
-36
-12
York
-28
-14
Portsmouth
-25
-12
Oxford
-23
-10
Pubs, bars and restaurants are also likely to have taken an economic hit as night-time visitors to city and town centres fell by six percentage points between the last weekend of May and last weekend of June.
Despite the fall, small and medium city and town centres continue to have seen the strongest recovery overall since restrictions were lifted, while bigger cities continue to struggle.
Southend, Blackpool and Basildon have come back strongest, with footfall being more than 70 per cent of February 2020 levels but London and other large city centres lag a long way behind – footfall in the centre of the capital was at just under a third of February 2020 levels.
Rank
City or large town
Overall footfall recovery in last week of June (February 2020 = 100)
Top 10
1
Southend
81
2
Blackpool
77
3
Basildon
72
4
Chatham
72
5
Burnley
72
6
Aldershot
71
7
Mansfield
69
8
Gloucester
68
9
Wigan
68
10
Barnsley
67
Bottom 10
54
Milton Keynes
50
55
Liverpool
50
56
Nottingham
49
57
Aberdeen
48
58
Cardiff
46
59
Leeds
46
60
Glasgow
43
61
Manchester
41
62
Birmingham
41
63
London
33
Centre for Cities’ Chief Executive Andrew Carter said:“Much discussion in the lead up to restrictions being lifted was about the amount of pent up demand that lockdowns had created, and the likely splurge in spending as a result. But while there was an initial jump, the data suggests this may have faltered.
“The weather and growing Covid-19 cases may be reasons for this, but with the end of the furlough scheme is in sight, high street businesses and workers will be hoping that the removal of restrictions on 19th July will help to sustain the high street’s recovery and bring more people back to the centre of our cities.”
Visitor numbers recovered to pre-lockdown levels in many places
But latest tracker data shows no increase in people returning to the office since June
Centre for Cities call for Government to offer further help to impacted retail and hospitality workers if footfall remains low at a time of continued uncertainty
New data from the Centre for Cities’ Street Recovery Tracker, in partnership with Nationwide Building Society, reveals that while footfall in many of the UK’s town and city centres recovered to pre-lockdown levels this summer the share of people returning to the workplace has not increased since late June, despite the UK Government’s campaign to get people back into offices.
Centre for Cities and Nationwide are working together to better understand how large cities and towns continue to be impacted by Covid-19, particularly if the recent rise in cases is sustained.
Overall city centre footfall up by 7% in August
According to mobile phone tracking data, despite the continued reluctance of people to return to their places of work, overall town and city centre footfall increased by seven-percentage points to 63% of pre-lockdown levels since the beginning of August.
In 14 of the UK’s 63 largest cities and towns, city centre footfall in August exceeded pre-lockdown levels. Seaside towns such as Blackpool, Bournemouth and Southend and smaller cities such as Birkenhead and Chatham proved particularly popular with visitors.
Again, overall footfall in larger cities remains well below the national average. In Central London footfall is still at just 31% of pre-lockdown levels, in Manchester it is 49% and in Birmingham it is 52%.
Where has overall city centre visitor footfall recovered the most?
Rank
City or town centre
Total city-centre footfall as a percentage of pre-lockdown levels (HIGHEST)
Rank
City or town
Total city-centre footfall as a percentage of pre-lockdown levels (LOWEST)
1
Blackpool
141
1
London
31
2
Bournemouth
133
2
Manchester
49
3
Birkenhead
124
3
Birmingham
52
4
Southend
116
4
Oxford
57
5
Chatham
115
5
Leeds
57
6
Burnley
111
6
Nottingham
59
7
Basildon
110
7
Cardiff
61
8
Doncaster
110
8
Sheffield
63
9
Portsmouth
106
9
Bristol
63
10
Telford
106
10
Leicester
64
UK city average: Total visitor footfall is now at 63%, compared to pre-lockdown. Week commencing 24 August. Source: Locomizer
Where is city and town centre footfall back to pre-lockdown levels?
Cities with a footfall score at or above 100% of pre-lockdown levels week commencing 24 August.Source: Locomizer
But levels of people returning to their workplace remains flat
The data shows weekday worker footfall in the centres of the UK’s largest cities and towns remains at just 17% of pre-lockdown levels on average – exactly the same as it was at the end of June.
The share of people returning to their places of work is even lower in many of the largest and most economically prosperous cities with London, Leeds, Birmingham, Manchester and Cardiff all still below the UK city average.
Recovery has been stronger in smaller cities and large towns where weekday worker footfall is on average 27% of pre-lockdown levels. In Mansfield the share of people back at their place of work is now at 42% of what it was in February. However, nowhere has yet reached even half of pre-lockdown levels, so the UK has a long way to go if office life is to ever return to ‘normal’.
Places with the LARGEST share of people back in their place of work, compared to pre-lockdown (%)
Rank
City or town
Places with the SMALLEST share of people back in their place of work, compared to pre-lockdown (%)
1
Mansfield
42
1
Oxford
9
2
Basildon
38
2
Leeds
13
3
Newport
36
3
London
13
4
Birkenhead
35
4
Birmingham
14
5
Blackburn
35
5
Manchester
14
6
Northampton
34
6
Cardiff
15
7
Stoke
34
7
Reading
16
8
Derby
31
8
Sheffield
16
9
Chatham
31
9
Liverpool
16
10
Wigan
31
10
Portsmouth
16
UK city average: 17% of people back in their place of work, compared to pre-lockdown. Week commencing 24 August. Source: Locomizer
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.
Centre for Cities’ Chief Executive Andrew Carter said:“Good weather, Eat Out To Help Out and a boost to domestic tourism have helped increase visitor numbers to the UK’s seaside towns, but we should not celebrate too soon. “
We do not know yet whether this will continue into autumn and our biggest cities, which we rely on to power the UK’s economy, are still struggling in the wake of lockdown.
“There is little indication that workers are heeding the Government’s call to return to their offices and city centre restaurants, pubs and shops face an uncertain future while they remain at home. So, unless we see a big increase in people returning to the office, the Chancellor must set out how he will support the people working in retail and hospitality who could soon find themselves out of a job.”
Mandy Beech, Nationwide’s Director of Branches, said:“This latest research tells us Britain’s city and town centres continue to see significantly reduced footfall despite the nation having emerged from lockdown some time ago.
“However, there are positive signs that visitor numbers are picking up in many regional areas. While we can all hope life returns to normal quickly, the reality is that progress will be both uncertain and slow as workers look to return to their offices over the coming months.
“As an organisation rooted in the UK’s cities and towns, we want to do what we can to serve our members as the nation rebalances itself.
“During lockdown we challenged ourselves to keep 90 per cent of our branches open and today that stands at 98 per cent. While our own footfall has fluctuated, our branch employees have been able to support call-centre colleagues to help meet demand.
“As a vital service, we will continue to work in this way as we understand and respond to the needs of our members at this time.”
