Key events
Back to the shopping footfall, the BRC pins part of the problem on the fact that high streets shops have not had the extra cash to invest in the kind of shopping ‘experiences’ that can lure consumers.
BRC CEO Helen Dickinson says that is partly the fault of high taxes and burdensome regulations. Retailers are currently fearing a pinch from a hike in employer national insurance contributions and the minimum wage.
Dickinson says:
Shopping habits have been changing fast and customers are increasingly looking for more experiential shopping, as well as a variety of cafes, services and things to do.
Unfortunately, investment in town centres and high streets is held back by our outdated business rates system, which penalises town and city centes.
The government’s proposals to reform business rates may ease the burden for some retailers, but it is vital that, ultimately, no shop ends up paying more in rates than before.
With retailers facing £7bn in additional costs this year from increased tax and regulations, the changes to the business rates system must be made in way that supports retail investment and growth in the years ahead.
Markets have opened for trading on this chilly Friday morning and we’ve got a mixed picture across Europe:
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FTSE 100 is flat
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France’s CAC 40 is down 0.2%
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Spain’s IBEX is up 0.1%
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Germany’s Xetra DAX is flat
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Italy’s FTSE MIB is down 0.35%
Introduction: UK retailers suffer ‘disappointing year’ with 2.2% footfall drop
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.
We start this Friday with disappointing news for high street shops, as the British Retail Consortium (BRC) reports a 2.2% fall in footfall for December, compared to a year earlier.
That is slightly better than the 4.5% drop in November, but will provide little comfort to the shops that had been hoping for a end-of-year rebound during the all-important Christmas shopping season.
Figures from the BRC show that shopping centres were the hardest hit, followed by high street shops:
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High street footfall decreased by 2.7% in December (year-on-year), up from -3.7% in November.
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Shopping centre footfall decreased by 3.3% in December (year-on-year), up from -6.1% in November
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Retail park footfall was unchanged at 0.0% in December (year-on-year), up from -1.1% in November.
Overall, it meant that fourth quarter footfall was down 2.5%, leaving full-year 2024 footfall down 2.2% compared to 2023.
And although footfall is not an accurate guide to potential sales due to the boom in online shopping, it will add to anxiety about how retailers performed.
The BRC’s CEO Helen Dickinson said:
A drab December which saw fewer shoppers in all locations, capped a disappointing year for UK retail footfall. This means 2024 is the second year in a row where footfall has been in decline.
High streets and shopping centres were hit particularly hard throughout the year as people veered towards retail parks to take advantage of free parking and the variety of larger stores.
Even the Golden Quarter, typically the peak of shopping activity, provided little relief, with footfall down over the period.
While the Black Friday weekend delivered more promising results, they were overshadowed by a lacklustre festive season.
The agenda
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8.55am GMT: Germany unemployment for December
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9:30am GMT: UK mortgage approvals, net mortgage lending, consumer credit for November
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1:30pm GMT: US ISM manufacturing index for December