A YouGov nationwide poll of more than 2,000 GB adults has revealed that more than half of British people believe that the re-opening of pubs, bars and non-essential businesses came too soon.
The final week of the UK Government’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme helped boost retail footfall by 6%, according to analysis by retail analysts Springboard. Bank Holiday Monday marked the final day of the scheme, apparently spurring consumers across the country to make the most of the discounted prices available. Springboard said the August Bank Holiday weekend was a “remarkable success” as retail destinations saw only 11% less footfall compared to last year.
While the scheme was principally created to support pure hospitality businesses, convenience retailers were also eligible if they had a food-to-go offer.
Shopping centres saw footfall increase by 9.1%, high streets reported a jump of 4.8% and retail parks grew by 5%. While footfall has remained 26.1% down in comparison to last year, this increase has been a welcome improvement on the previous week’s figure of 30.7% down.
