Shops enjoy the better weather, BRC-Springboard finds

UK shops benefitted from better weather last month and growth in the number of visitors was greater than the previous month, the British Retail Consortium said.

Footfall in June was 0.8% up on a year ago, lifting the three month average to 0.5%, according to the BRC-Springboard monthly monitor.

High Street footfall rose 0.9% and for the past three months averages 0.4%, while retail park locations saw footfall grow 2.3% and have a three-month average of 2.2%.

Footfall in Shopping Centres was the only location to see a fall, declining 0.8% in June on and with a three-month average of -0.9%.

BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson wondered if tougher times lay ahead.

"Amidst economic uncertainty and mounting concern over the inflationary squeeze on household incomes, sustaining growth in shopper footfall will be challenging, more so as retailers seek to convert that into an improved performance at tills."

Comparatives for the retail trade footfall toughen in future months as the UK scene was quite bouyant in the second half of 216, noted analysts at Shore Capital.

"The forthcoming BRC-Springboard reports may take on a more mellow feel, therefore, unless the economy shows a strengthening in momentum. For now the air feels like it is seeping out of the economic balloon, which fuels our aforementioned greater concerns about the economy," ShoreCap said.

Retailers and other sectors got a boost on Monday as the government promised to press ahead with a reform that could save organisations £1bn, with the contentious tax on commercial property to be indexed against a measure of consumer prices rather than faster-rising retail prices from 2020.