Footfall Down, but Game not over says Springboard

Aug. 2, 2012 - PRLog -- Immediate Relase

Footfall Down, but Game not over says Springboard

Retail footfall data, released by Springboard, confirms that the first London 2012 Games Weekend hit retail footfall severely across the UK and London, which were down -9.1% and -21% respectively year on year.  However, Springboard’s retail experts are calling for John Penrose to resource a national campaign in September to promote the High Street’s shops and restaurants, which could mean that all is not lost for the UK’s shops over the next couple of months, which employ more than 3 million people across the country.

Springboard captures footfall trends across UK Towns and Cities and London, and has released figures from the Opening Ceremony Day of Friday 27th July through to Sunday 29th July, which marked the second Sunday of extended opening hours.

Annual % Changes   Friday   Saturday   Sunday
   27/07/2012   28/07/2012   29/07/2012
London   -21.0%   -23.6%   -19.5%
UK   -9.1%   -14.3%   -11.0%

Retail insights experts at Springboard confirm the following factors had an effect:
UK & London -
•Games focussed Brits stayed at home to watch the Games rather than enjoy their local High Street
•Warm weather further encouraged people to either stay at home and enjoy the garden, or head to local parks and green spaces for a spot of amateur sport
•Tourists games focussed, leisure time yet to be enjoyed
•Continued tightened economy – lowest disposable incomes at lowest level for nine years

London Specific -
•Over cautious campaign messaging from transport authorities warning of central London congestion kept Brits & Londoners away from the capital

Diane Wehrle, Head of Retail Insights at Springboard said: “Town Centres & High Streets across the UK had predicted that the double whammy of major televised sporting event and good weather would not be good for sales last weekend, but the Olympic drop off is still more than expected, with high street weekend footfall falling from 1.4% to -9.0% in just one week.  We have written to John Penrose on behalf of the High Streets we represent, calling for a national campaign in September to promote the High Streets retail and restaurant offer to offset the Olympics affect, which has been so testing for business.”

-ENDS-

Notes to Eds:
Springboard is the leading provider of automated footfall monitoring services for entire range of customer generating environments including the UK’s high streets, retail parks and shopping centres. Springboard’s data tracker gathers footfall counts continuously, 24 hours a day, across 85 UK towns and cities with 24,888 hourly counts a day, 174,216 a week and 696,864 a month. Springboard’s National High Street Index, published in collaboration with the Association of Town Centre Management, provides the only available measure of town centre performance. More information about the ATCM can be found at www.atcm.org