Retail footfall declined by just 0.5 per cent year-on-year in January, with shopping centre footfall rising for the first time in three years.

Springboard’s latest statistics showed an increase in footfall for both shopping centres and retail parks – 0.2 per cent and 1.4 per cent respectively.

However, high street footfall dropped by 1.8 per cent.

Diane Wehrle, Springboard’s marketing and insights director, said: “Whilst a rise of 0.2 per cent is only a modest increase it brings some much-needed hope for this destination type that has consistently lost shoppers for over two years.

“It seems that this is an early sign that the regeneration schemes long planned by owners to broaden the offer of malls to incorporate a greater experiential element, particularly in the larger malls, are working and they now better reflect consumers demands.”

The figures also showed an improvement in the number of shop vacancies in January, with the rate of 9.8 per cent being the lowest for a year.

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