West End gets bank holiday boost as shoppers flock to central London
Shoppers flocked to London’s West End over the bank holiday weekend, keen to make the most of shops, restaurants and bars in the sunshine.
Footfall in the area was up 67 per cent over the bank holiday weekend when compared with last weekend’s figures, data from New West End Company found, which represents 600 retail, restaurant, hotel and property owners on Oxford Street, Regent Street, Bond Street and in Mayfair.
Traffic in the district was up 31 per cent during the long weekend when compared with the bank holiday at the beginning of May.
New West End Company chief executive Jace Tyrrell said: “The first bank holiday since the easing of restrictions for hospitality has proved to be a hit for the West End.
“As the weather improved, so too did numbers on the high street, as visitors flocked back to the district, with 67 per cent more coming back than last week.
“Our businesses have been patient, raring to get back into action, and the last few days have reinforced our belief that the public is as ready as we are to return.”
Not out of the woods
Elsewhere, data from Springboard revealed the extent to which the sunshine helped retail destinations more broadly over the weekend.
Overall, footfall rose by a relatively modest 4.4 per cent on Saturday in the UK, compared to the same day a week ago, but when the sun came out on Sunday, footfall jumped 25 per cent, followed by 16 per cent on Bank Holiday Monday.
In the last week in central London, the number of people in the area rose by 17 per cent compared with the week before, a larger rise than in any other high street type other than coastal towns, where footfall rose by 18.2 per cent.
Overall, however, footfall remained nearly 27 per cent lower than the same period in 2019.
Springboard insights director Diane Wehrle said: “Despite rain continuing to persist at the beginning of last week, footfall in UK retail destinations rose from the week before, with the increase also being far greater than in the past five weeks.
“It was apparent that shoppers intended to make the most of the bank holiday weekend – and the good weather that was forecast – as footfall rose by substantially more on Thursday and Friday than earlier in the week.”