The slow return of the high street as shopping malls and retail parks lead consumer recovery

Britain’s high streets are rebounding at a slower rate than shopping centres, according to new figures which show how the reluctance of staff to return to workplaces is harming businesses.

Footfall in town and city centre streets has stagnated in recent weeks, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed this morning. 

At the same time out-of town retail parks and urban shopping centres have continued to slowly move back towards their original footfall.

The ONS release also showed that 13 per cent of workers is still on paid furlough under the Job Retention Scheme (JRS), with almost one in four (39 per cent) of companies topping up their wages.

It came as Boris Johnson was told to do more to get office workers back at their desks.

Carolyn Fairbairn warned today that commercial centres risk being permanent ‘ghost towns’.

Writing in the Daily Mail, the director-general of the CBI said getting staff back into offices and workplaces is as important as the return of pupils to school.

‘The UK’s offices are vital drivers of our economy,’ says Dame Carolyn, who speaks for almost 200,000 firms. ‘They support thousands of local firms, from dry cleaners to sandwich bars. They help train and develop young people. And they foster better work and productivity for many kinds of business.

‘The costs of office closure are becoming clearer by the day. Some of our busiest city centres resemble ghost towns, missing the usual bustle of passing trade. This comes at a high price for local businesses, jobs and communities.’

Dame Carolyn’s intervention will pressure the Prime Minister to match his rhetoric on the need to return to school with similar words – and action – about workplaces.

The ONS measured footfall compared with the same day of the week in 2019.

‘Seven-day average continued to increase in the latest week (17 to 23 August 2020), to around 70 per cent of the level on the same day a year ago, driven by increased footfall at retail parks and shopping centres,’ it noted.

‘This continues the gradual increase in footfall seen since the reopening of non-essential shops and businesses in England on 15 June.’

But more worrying for smaller retailers found on high streets, it added: ‘Footfall on high streets has remained stable over the last few weeks.’

In the week beginning August 17, footfall in retail parks increasing to 90 per cent of the same day in 2019, and shopping centres to just under 70 per cent.