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UK retail footfall falls 2.9% year on year in September, BRC and Sensormatic say

Total UK footfall was down 2.9% on September last year, worse than August's 1.7% fall, according to BRC and Sensormatic data. The BRC urged the Chancellor to hold back business rates rises in his first Budget.

2 outlets · 0L · 1C · 1R First reported Account updated
Image: Evening Standard
Image: City A.M.

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The story, neutrally told

Mixed · 2Total UK retail footfall fell 2.9% in September compared with a year earlier, a bigger drop than the 1.7% decline in August, according to data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Sensormatic. Mixed · 2Shopping centre footfall fell 3.5%, against a 0.5% fall in August; high street footfall fell 3%, a slight improvement on August's 3.1% decline; and retail park visits fell 1.7%. Centre · 1By nation, footfall was down 0.7% in Scotland, 3% in Wales and 3.4% in England, but up 2.1% in Northern Ireland.

Mixed · 2BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said September was "sluggish" and that some seasonal slowdown was expected, but this year's decline was sharp, with high streets and shopping centres hit hardest. Mixed · 2Dickinson said retailers were "fighting with one hand tied behind their backs" until the government cuts the cost of doing business, and urged the Chancellor to pull back from another business rates increase in his first Budget. Mixed · 2Andy Sumpter of Sensormatic said footfall fell across all major location types and that, with temperatures above seasonal norms, retailers could not blame the weather; he said consumers appeared focused on inflation, household spending pressures, fuel costs and uncertainty ahead of the autumn Budget.

Right · 1City A.M. added context: inflation rose to 3.1% in August, economists have warned that the effects of the Iran war have reduced the government's fiscal headroom, and Tesco chief executive Ken Murphy and John Lewis's chief have called for retailers to be exempted from the highest business rates multiplier.

Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.

Left0 outlets

No left outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.

Centre1 outlet

Framing
Reports the data as a sharp decline driven by cost-of-living pressures, leading with inflation, fuel and bills keeping shoppers at home.
Emphasis
Regional breakdown by nation and full quotes from both the BRC and Sensormatic.
Leaves out or plays down
Does not mention the Iran war, August inflation or other retailers' calls on business rates.
Charged language
“sharp year-on-year decline”
For example
“inflation, fuel and household bill rises kept shoppers at home” — Evening Standard

Right1 outlet

Framing
Frames the fall as a tax-burden story, leading with calls for the Chancellor to cut taxes for high street firms.
Emphasis
Business rates, the Tesco and John Lewis calls, fiscal headroom limits and the Iran war.
Leaves out or plays down
Omits the footfall breakdown by UK nation.
Charged language
“took a dive”“slash taxes”
For example
“prompting calls for the Chancellor to slash taxes for high street firms” — City A.M.