Swinney urged to avoid burdening incomes after ‘modest’ rise in retail footfall

Footfall in Scottish shops saw a “modest” rise in the latest reporting period, prompting a leading retail body to urge the First Minister not to impose any more financial burden on consumers or businesses.

The number of shoppers visiting stores increased by 0.7% in August compared to the same month last year, a development the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) described as “encouraging”.

The body has called on John Swinney to bear this in mind when it comes to announcing his Programme for Government next week and “shun” anything that would add any additional pressure on household incomes.

On the back of the latest four-week figures being released, the SRC also urged ministers to stem the “remorseless rise in Government-inspired costs affecting shops”.

Figures provided by the SRC-Sensormatic IQ footfall monitor show Edinburgh was once again the top performing city in the UK, with the number of visitors up 2.6% compared with August 2023.

Footfall in Glasgow decreased by 0.6% over the period and the number of consumers visiting shopping centres was also down the same percentage.

David Lonsdale, director of the SRC, said: “Scottish stores saw a modest but nonetheless encouraging year-on-year increase in customer visits last month, outperforming the UK average.

“The figures could have been even higher were it not for people avoiding some city centre locations at the start of the month, perhaps due to riots at the time in other parts of the UK and concerns they could spread.

“Edinburgh was again the top performing UK city in the survey, growing for a third consecutive month aided by tourists and the city’s phenomenal festivals. Glasgow and shopping centres also fared better than of late.

“The resumption of growth in shopper footfall hopefully bodes well ahead of the publication of our retail sales data for August. That said, the challenges for shops and retail destinations are far from being in the rear-view mirror.

“Falling shop prices and growing real wages have yet to translate into sustained improvements in foot traffic or retail sales, as elevated mortgage rates and higher taxes continue to chisel away at household disposable incomes. The timing of the removal of the peak train fare discount will do little to help.

“The retail industry is asking policy makers – including the First Minister in his Programme for Government next week – to shun anything that adds to the pressures on household finances and for action to stem the remorseless rise in Government-inspired costs affecting shops.”

Andy Sumpter, retail consultant EMEA for Sensormatic Solutions, said: “Despite the unrest at the beginning of the month in other parts of the UK, a strong footfall performance in the second half of August, helped by an easing of price inflation, fair weather and a boost from school and bank holiday trade, saw year-on-year shopper traffic rise to its highest level since September 2023.

“With all destination types improving on July’s visitor numbers, retailers will be hoping that the resilience seen in August, with footfall returning a positive year-on-year performance for the second time in just three months, will lead to longer-term growth for store traffic.”

Employment and investment minister Tom Arthur said: “It is good news that more people have been shopping in Scotland’s towns and cities compared to this time last year, despite a drop in footfall across the UK.

“GDP figures show that Scotland’s economy grew by 0.6% in the second quarter of 2024, painting the picture of a growing and resilient economy.

“The Scottish Government recognises the retail sector is an important part of Scotland’s economy and, as part of its retail strategy, engages regularly with sector representatives.

“In 2024-25, we are freezing the basic property rate and providing a package of reliefs worth an estimated £685 million, including the small business bonus scheme which continues to be the most generous relief of its kind in the UK.”