Shrewsbury shoppers leading UK retail bounce back
Shrewsbury has one of the UK’s best retail recoveries, according to an index monitoring the number of people entering stores.
Based on research from Ipsos’ Retail Recovery Index, footfall in Shrewsbury was found to have the ninth biggest increase nationally compared to the same period in 2019 at minus 16.4 per cent.
Harrogate beat off competition from Harrow, Coventry and Newcastle-upon-Tyne to take top spot, as consumers continue to shop locally rather than visiting larger cities.
National footfall was down minus 25 per cent between July 26 and October 24, compared to the same period in 2019.
Central London locations have not yet seen the bounce back experienced across the rest of the country.
Oliver Hillier, senior retail analyst at Ipsos, said: “After a challenging period of lockdown, it’s encouraging to see that shoppers are keen to return to the high streets. Yorkshire and Humber, the South West and Eastern regions have seen the strongest recovery between 26 July and 24 October, with footfall in Shrewsbury less than 17 per cent off its 2019 level over the same period.
“Central London destinations do continue to see footfall lag behind the rest of the country, however since workers have returned to offices there has been an improvement. Over the festive period we expect to see this situation improve with leisure and hospitality venues opening with no Covid-19 restrictions for the first time since 2019.
“Our Retail Recovery Index paints a positive picture for most locations as we head towards the golden quarter and the continued success of smaller cities and large towns suggests that many shoppers continued to visit stores close to their homes, rather than travelling to visit major cities such as London, Birmingham and Manchester.”
