UK footfall figures jumped up slightly by two per cent last month, compared to October 2021. High Streets saw an impressive increase of 7.6 per cent, while Shopping Centres saw a 2.8 per cent incline. Retail Parks, however, decreased by 3.2 per cent.

This is according to the latest data from the British Retail Consortium and its Sensormatic IQ data. It said the figures are positive and have continued to improve over the past year.

Until now, the BRC has been comparing all recent data with 2019 (pre-pandemic) because of the “turbulent” period during the pandemic in 2020 and 2021. It January, it plans to return to year-on-year reports.

Compared against October 2019, overall UK footfall dropped by 11.8 per cent last month, and shopping centres saw the biggest fall in people, with a 21.8 per cent decline.

High street numbers slumped by 11.6 per cent against October 2019. Retail parks fared a little better, only seeing figures decrease by 3.7 per cent from 2019.

Depending on which way you look at the numbers, it’s a mixed bag of results.

“While Halloween sales may have given some respite to the High Street, shoppers spooked by the rising cost-of-living meant that the reality of growing consumer caution played out in October’s footfall figures,” remarked Andy Sumpter, Retail Consultant EMEA for Sensormatic Solutions.

“As consumers and retailers both adapt to what’s being coined the “new abnormal,” in which economic and political uncertainty creates new – and increasingly frequent – curveballs, retailers will be hoping to minimise disruption to safeguard their Christmas performance,” he added.

The BRC’s Chief Executive, Helen Dickinson, agreed: “The next few months will be crucial, as the Christmas spending period begins. Households are unlikely to see the cost of living crisis ease any time soon, and retailers are finding it harder to shoulder the mounting supply chain pressures.”

Looking more closely at the report, the BRC said Wales saw the steepest decline in footfall of 16.1 per cent – again, compared to 2019. Northern Ireland was -13.1 per cent, Scotland -12 per cent but England saw the shallowest footfall decline of all regions at -11.4 per cent (against 2019).

North West England saw the least change by region (-7.9 per cent against 2019), South West England was -10.2 per cent and West Midlands was -10.3 per cent. London, meanwhile, saw a drop in footfall of 13.6 per cent.