Retail footfall in British high streets bounced back from the pandemic-driven sluggish shopper numbers around January 2023. But despite the recovering numbers, high streets still struggled with diminishing visits and frequent fluctuations. In the most recently reported period (October 2025), there was an increase of *** percent of visitors to UK high streets after a year-on-year decrease the previous month. Similar fluctuations in footfall trends appeared in shopping centers as well. Retail locations out of favor With more and more shoppers turning to the convenience of online shopping, the landscape of high street retailing is transforming as store closures are dealing many retail and leisure store categories hard blows. This was exacerbated by the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In 2024, there were over ****** store closures in the United Kingdom. Store closures before the pandemic Even before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic hit, UK retail sector had been going through what many have dubbed as "the retail apocalypse". Many retailers saw store closures and ensuing job losses a year before the pandemic. Among these, Poundland had the highest number of staff lay-offs resulting from store closures.

Generally, consumers in Great Britain were most likely to say that their high street had been getting worse in 2023 as a result of a lack of shops. ** percent of respondents said that there are more empty shops and ** percent said the variety of shops has decreased.

Retail footfall saw a decrease of *** percent in September 2025 in the United Kingdom (UK), driven by shopping centers. Compared to the same month a year earlier, high streets saw a reduction in footfall of *** percent.

This statistic presents the percentage growth in like-for-like sales in high street stores in the United Kingdom (UK) from January 2017 to December 2024. Over the time period observed, the biggest decline in like-for-like high street sales was seen in early 2020, when lockdown measures against the spread of the coronavirus hit the UK. Since the easing of restrictions around April 2021, high street sales on a like-for-like basis saw major improvements, jumping up by over *** percent when compared to the previous year, when many countries worldwide had introduced strict lockdown measures. Most recently, in December 2024, like-for-like sales increased by *** percent in UK high streets.

Rome's most famous shopping street Via del Corso saw rents dramatically decrease between ********** and **********. During this period, high street rents fell by ** percent. One of the main reasons for this decline is the drop in tourism during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Paris' Champs-Elysees and London's Oxford Street experienced a similar trend, with rents falling by ** percent.

While WHSmith's high street sales have been in decline for several years, they experienced a slight uptick in 2021 when compared to the previous year. In the financial year ending *************** sales revenues decreased by **** percent on 2023. WHSmith is a British retailer specializing in books, stationery, newspapers, and magazines, generally operating in high street and travel locations (e.g., railway stations and airports).

Health outcomes are influenced by social and environmental determinants of health. As places where people work, live, meet and consume, high street retail environments are influential in shaping health. In recent decades, high streets have been in decline, prompting policies to revitalise retail environments and support local businesses, particularly in European and North American countries. The aim of this scoping review was to systematically map evidence on retail environment interventions, to gain a deeper understanding of the current evidence base assessing their possible health and wellbeing impacts. The objectives were to identify different types of interventions and the outcomes they address; and the mechanism through which interventions are theorised to influence health and equity. Peer-reviewed studies were identified through academic databases (MEDLINE, Embase, EconLit, Web of Science and Social Policy and Practice) using relevant search terms. Additional (grey) literature was identified using citation scanning and online searches. Studies were eligible if they evaluated interventions with a significant focus on supporting the retail environment, reported on at least one health and wellbeing outcome and were written in English. Relevant data were extracted and presented descriptively. An interpretive approach was taken to analyse theories of change. The searches identified 53 peer-reviewed studies and nine grey literature reports. Interventions were categorised as follows: area-based initiatives, business improvement districts, business incentives, and demand-side incentives. Studies predominantly evaluated impacts on social and environmental determinants of health. Some studies measured impacts on self-rated (mental) health, physical activity and food consumption and purchasing. Studies reported evidence of both improved and worsening outcomes. Theories of change were often under-specified and reductionist, lacking a clear understanding of the complex systems in which interventions take place. Future interventions could benefit from more comprehensive theories of change that meaningfully integrate economic, and health and wellbeing outcomes. This requires intersectoral collaboration.

Retail footfall is one of the casualties of the growing e-commerce industry and the toll on the UK high street is visible more and more frequently. As shown in this statistic, the declining visitor numbers to retail and shopping centers help understand the apprehension around traditional retail. Throughout 2018, footfall persistently decreased and the percentage change confimed this even during the holiday season.

Store closures in retail centers

One of the negative outcomes of the falling visitor numbers to retail centers is store closures. In 2017, high streets and shopping centers together were the leading locations which experienced a drop in store numbers across Great Britain.

Is there hope for offline retail?
In the past few years, growth in the retail industry happened more online than in traditional retail formats. Yet forecasts anticipate growth for offline retail shopping locations, whereas a standstill is in sight for online sales.

The coronavirus outbreak has had a huge impact on retail locations in the United Kingdom (UK). Since mid-March, footfall in UK retail locations (including high streets, shopping centers and retail parks) fell the sharpest on April 12, coinciding with Easter, with a decline of **** percent.

For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Fact and Figures page.

This statistic presents the annual percentage change in high street retail footfall during the Easter Weekend in 2017, by day. Easter Saturday and Easter Sunday saw increases in high street activity of **** percent and *** percent, respectively, in 2017 compared to the previous year, while Good Friday experienced a decline in high street footfall by *** percent.

Rental rates of high street and shopping center properties in the UK declined in the first quarter of 2025. Net effective rents fell by *** percent from the previous quarter, while headline rents declined by *** percent. Prime retail rents in Europe are forecast to rise by 2026, with the UK seeing faster growth than the rest of the region.

Arcadia Group is the parent company to a number of popular fashion brands such as Topshop, Topman, Dorothy Perkins, Miss Selfridge, Burton, and Wallis. Having made a name for itself as the first UK fashion retailer to launch an online shop, the Topshop brand has been the crown jewel of Arcadia Group’s fashion empire. In the meantime, a number of design collaborations, including with Kate Moss, helped solidify Topshop’s image as the hip and stylish brand of the British high street.

Arcadia in decline
That being said, Arcadia’s financial lookout has not been great in recent years. As seen in the graph, the group’s sales went down year after year, with the financial year 2017/18 delivering the lowest results. Moreover, in their most recent annual filing the company reported an operating loss of about *** million British pounds, which revealed the depth of the financial turmoil they are currently in.

High street closures

Arcadia Group is not the only retailer struggling in the high street. Fast fashion brand New Look recently went through a similar demise, cutting down a considerable number of its UK stores. In 2018, net closures of chain stores in the UK was the highest since 2012.

This statistic shows the average score of major department stores' overall brand health in the United Kingdom (UK) between 2014 and 2018. The combined data for Debenhams, House of Fraser, John Lewis, and Marks & Spencer suggests that the brand health of high street department stores in the United Kingdom suffered a decline over a four-year period of time. While in September 2014 department stores' overall brand health in the UK was at ** percent, this figure regressed to ** percent by September 2018.

This statistic presents the percentage change in visitor numbers to various retail environments ('footfall') in the United Kingdom on key Christmas shopping days in 2014, compared to 2013. Overall retail footfall on December 23rd and 24th (Christmas Eve) increased. Shopper numbers on the high street rose by 7 percent on December 23rd, however this was offset by a decline in footfall within shopping centers and retail parks.

New Look is a value for money fashion retailer that has been in UK high streets since 1969. In the past years, the company has been facing dwindling financial and operational numbers. As shown in this statistic, revenue has been falling since 2016. In 2018, the retailer registered losses after a period of shrinking profit in the preceding years. As of March 2024, the revenue of New Look in the UK and the rest of Ireland amounted to ***** million British pounds. Dipping sales New Look is one the leading multichannel retailers in the UK with a successful e-commerce business. However, the downward trend did not spare the retailer’s online sales. In 2018, along with its UK retail activities, New Look e-commerce sales took a turn for the worse. The online channel recovered during coronavirus, but by 2023 e-commerce sales were *** million pounds, but that represented the second year in a row that the figure fell. New Look stores in jeopardy The financial difficulty New Look found itself in triggered anxieties over store closures as well. Up until the 2017/2018 financial year, New Look maintained stability in the number of stores it owns worldwide. However, later in the year the retailer announced the termination of its operations in China. On top of that, the number of stores in the UK has since steadily fallen.