High street suffers again as chilly June hits footfall

THE retail summer has got off to a soggy start with bad weather partly blamed for the weakest June footfall performance on the high street and in shopping centres since before the pandemic.

- Jonathan Prynn

Across all UK retail destinations footfall was down by 1.4% year on year over the month with high streets seeing a 2.3% drop and shopping centres a 1.3% decline, according to data from analysts MRI Software.

This is the first decline recorded in June in both high streets and shopping centres since 2019.

The first half of June was particularly weak as unseasonably cool conditions and rain kept shoppers at home before a combination of the arrival of warm sunshine, the England matches at the Euros, and the Taylor Swift concerts led to a pick up in the latter weeks.

MRI said the drop in the number of consumers out shopping in early June could also have been partly caused by more people than usual taking early summer holidays abroad to escape the gloomy conditions after a particularly dismal spring.