Fall in Easter shopping points to weakness on high street

Despite much better weather than 2013, which was the coldest Easter on record, high street footfall fell by nearly 11pc on Sunday and just over 8pc on Good Friday, according to data from Springboard.

“Easter weekend is the next big trading opportunity for retailers after Christmas and a huge opportunity, but even good weather was not enough to encourage people to go out and spend,” she said.

However, the Bank Holiday yesterday appeared to give retailers some relief with high street shopping up 10.2pc and footfall at retail parks up nearly 23pc year-on-year.

Despite the general fall in shopping numbers, London’s West End appeared to shrug off the retail lull, rising 2.4pc on March last year and outperforming the UK average.

“Our strong sales and footfall performance in March is proof that our retailers have been working hard to attract shoppers to the West End, with promotions and special activities up and down the district,” said Richard Dickinson, chief executive of the New West End Company.

Mr Dickinson’s company represents 600 retailers and said that footfall on Oxford Street, Bond Street and Regent Street had increased by 4pc on last March against a national average of 1.8pc.

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