Drop in city’s footfall one of the worst in UK
CARDIFF city centre currently has the second weakest footfall recovery in the UK, tying with Manchester and only London doing worse, according to new data.
The Centre of Cities figures show the amount of people in the capital’s city centre is only 51% of pre-March lockdown levels.
Newport is at 82%, and Swansea 84%. The UK average is 64%.
The study also shows Newport has been hit as shoppers have spent a quarter less than they were spending before lockdown.
And all three cities had significant falls in footfall in September compared to August.
Swansea’s fall was the third biggest in the UK at 16 percentage points, Newport fell by seven percentage points and Cardiff by 10 percentage points.
The chief executive of Brains pubs, Alistair Darby, said that some pubs in Cardiff city centre had seen trade drop by 80%.
Speaking on BBC Radio Wales, he said: “The pub sector is currently running as a sector 45% down.
“It is like being told that you are only going to receive half of your salary. You would get by, but it would be very difficult.
“We are seeing a 45% drop in turnover since curfew and local restrictions were put in place. I am hearing about people in Cardiff city centre who are 80% down. We want to play our part but equally we are part of the economy, we provide jobs and provide safe places for people to eat and drink.
“If this was to carry on for a long period of time it is going to be disastrous and we are going to see lots of pubs close.”
More figures shows that high street footfall has “steadily dropped” across the UK throughout September as the tightening of restrictions impacted retailers’ recovery.
The latest BRC-ShopperTrack footfall monitor revealed that UK retail footfall decreased by 30.1% in September compared to the same month last year.
The figures revealed a 4.7 percentage point improvement against August but saw local lockdown restrictions weigh on shopping throughout the month.
Cardiff has seen only half the number of visitors that were going into the city centre in March before the national lockdown.
Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium (BRC), said: “As the second wave of the pandemic sweeps the UK and additional restrictions come into force, footfall has steadily dropped during the month as many shoppers chose to stay at home.”
The report highlighted a nine percentage point fall in footfall from the start of September to the end of the period as local restrictions kept shoppers at home.
Ms Dickinson said: “It is likely that rising case numbers and future restrictions may see footfall decline in the coming months.
“Sales at upcoming holidays, including Halloween and Bonfire night, are also likely to remain muted.”
Andy Sumpter, retail consultant at ShopperTrak, said: “This is a critical time when retailers are readying themselves for the start of the Golden Quarter and Christmas trading.
“Retailers have already invested heavily in safety, compliance and alternate ways to shop, but will need to continue to hard-bake consumer confidence into shopping journeys to ensure they capitalise on festive footfall and, crucially, sales. This peak season, consumers are likely to shop earlier, less often, and with more purpose, making each visit more valuable than ever before.”
High street footfall was 36.9% lower than the same month last year while footfall in shopping centres was 36.1% lower.
Meanwhile, retail parks were the most resilient in September, reporting footfall which was just 6.9% lower year-on-year.
Yesterday, new figures showed the pace of the UK’s economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic has slowed considerably and is far below what experts had hoped for.
Gross National Product (GDP) was up by 2.1% during August, according to data from the Office for National
Statistics (ONS). It was the fourth consecutive month of growth, after the economy took a serious hit during the depths of the Covid-19 pandemic.
But it is less than half of what experts had expected, and a major slowdown since July.
Analysts expected GDP would increase by 4.6%, according to a consensus taken by Pantheon Macroeconomics.
In July, GDP was up by 6.4%, and in June it rose by 9.1%, according to ONS data.
The UK Government said it had invested hundreds of millions of pounds to get the economy back on its feet in August, including promising to pay for half a restaurant bill during parts of the month.
“It was largely this scheme, and other government initiatives, that encouraged growth across the month”, said Suren Thiru, head of economics at the British Chamber of Commerce.
The accommodation and food service sectors contributed 1.25 percentage points of August’s growth in GDP.
Mr Thiru added: “The increase in activity in August largely reflects a temporary boost from the economy reopening and government stimulus, including the Eat Out to Help Out scheme, rather than proof of a sustained ‘V’-shaped recovery,” he said.
“It is now vital that the Government is ready to help companies through what will prove to be a “difficult winter.”