Retail footfall in Northern Ireland fell by 2.5% in the month of June, which is the worst performance since April 2016, however is not as steep a decline as that experienced in the rest of the UK.
The data was revealed in the NIRC - Springboard Footfall and Vacancies Monitor, which found that the footfall decline was below the 3-month average of -1.7% and 12-month average of -2.0%.
“The recovery in shopper numbers witnessed in May proved short-lived, with footfall in Northern Ireland’s shopping destinations easing back again last month,” said Aodhán Connolly, Director, Northern Ireland Retail Consortium .
“The dip in footfall numbers was less marked than that of the UK as a whole last month, but was a touch weaker than the average monthly decline seen over the past year as a whole.”
Connolly also referenced the potential impact of the Brexit vote on retail numbers, saying, “It is too early to say with certainty what lasting impact the Brexit vote will have on consumer and business confidence in Northern Ireland, however what is clear is that the devolved administration ought to re-double its efforts to keep down the cost of living and the cost of doing business. Retailers and other firms are already having to grapple with a hotchpotch of government-imposed cost rises such as the new Apprenticeship Levy, the national living wage, higher employer pension contributions, and business rates which have been ratcheted up year after year with little regard to trading or economic conditions.”
© 2016 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
