Oxford Street in London following its annual Christmas light-switch on consisting of 5,000 star lights.
(Picture: PA)London retail traffic “came back with a vengeance” in December, as Oxford Street was the only major UK high street in which footfall increased on a month-on-month basis.
December high-street footfall across the UK was down by 30% from November, with declines in seven of the eight cities tracked by property intelligence business Datscha.
However, Oxford Street was the lone exception, with foot traffic rising by 20%.
Jacqui Baker, partner and head of retail at professional services firm RSM UK, said the data showed London has now well and truly recovered from lockdown.
“London might have been slower in getting back up on its feet than other cities post-lockdown, but it came back with a vengeance in December, with a positive uptick in footfall whilst all other major UK cities saw a decrease,” she said.
“The combination of more workers returning to the office, shopping in preparation for the party season and socialising gave footfall on the capital’s high street a welcome boost.
Baker added that strikes played a major role in the month-on-month declines in the rest of the UK.
“However, unfortunately for retailers the industrial strikes throughout December will have dampened people’s spirits to be able to get out and about across many other UK cities, as demonstrated by the mostly bleak picture for footfall.
“Trading time for retailers in December is already squeezed due to the Christmas holidays, and consumers tended to focus on socialising rather than visiting the high street.”
When compared to December 2021, footfall across major UK high streets was down by 25%, while the decline was even larger when compared to pre-pandemic levels, at 40%.
Looking ahead to retailers’ first-quarter results, Baker said the coming weeks could be make-or-break for businesses on the high street.
“Apart from in London, December’s footfall figures are unlikely to have filled retailers with confidence, as they look ahead to a nail biting first quarter in 2023,” she said. “There have been some winners on the high street in the festive period and the hope is the recent drops in energy prices continue, easing the cost-of-living crisis later on in the year and in turn, boosting consumer confidence, meaning there’s still everything to play for in the sector.”
