UK retail footfall edged down 0.7% last week from the week before, although high streets saw the number of visitors rise by the same percentage.

The decline was a result of shopping centres and retail parks seeing footfall drop by 2.3% and 1.8% respectively.

The figures from retail specialist Springboard also reveal that the gap from the 2019 footfall level widened to -13.5% from -9.3% in the week before, in part due to a strong week-on-week performance in the corresponding seven-day  period in 2019 when footfall rose by 4.3%.

However, there were signs that London workers are returning to the office following a rise of 4.4% in Springboard’s Central London ‘Back to the Office’ benchmark. This came despite activity in Central London and regional cities outside the capital declining by 0.4% and 3.1% respectively.