Rail disruption hampered recovery of retail sector, says business group

Disruption on Scotland’s railways has helped dent its retail recovery, a business organisation said as footfall remains well below pre-Covid levels.

Footfall decreased by 15.8% in June compared to the same month before the pandemic, the Scottish Retail Consortium said.

This is worse than the UK average decline of 10.5%.

Ewan MacDonald-Russell, head of policy and external affairs at the consortium, warned: “Scotland’s retail footfall continues to languish behind the rest of the UK with a second successive month as the weakest performer.”

He added: “Rail disruption and concern about the cost of living appear to have deterred visitors as footfall only saw a modest 0.6% improvement to remain 15.8% below pre-pandemic trading.”

ScotRail, which was nationalised by the Scottish Government in April, is still operating a limited timetable after drivers in the union Aslef refused to work overtime in a protest over pay.

And the RMT brought railways to a standstill for part of June in a UK-wide strike because of a separate pay dispute with Network Rail and some Department of Transport rail operating companies.

Andy Sumpter, retail consultant for Sensormatic Solutions, said: “June delivered a rollercoaster ride for the high street – the highs of the Jubilee jump in footfall, where retailers benefitted from the beginning of the month, was, in part, derailed by the rail strikes as some shoppers stayed at home to avoid travel disruption.”

The figures show shopping centre footfall fell by 19.9% last month, compared with three years ago, a weakening on the decline of 19.7% in May.

In Glasgow, Scotland’s biggest city, footfall fell by 12.2%, which is 0.6% worse than May.

Manchester was the best performing city in the country, just 0.2% below its 2019 footfall figure.

Liverpool followed, with a fall of 3.1%, with Nottingham 8.5% down and Edinburgh 9.6% lower than three years ago.

Mr MacDonald-Russell said “Edinburgh and Glasgow both outperformed the national average” but added: “The comparative success of both large Scottish shopping hubs reaffirms our concern that other town and city centres continue to fall further behind following the pandemic.”

And he warned pressure is set to grow on spending as inflation climbs, saying: “Whilst we have seen some innovative approaches to returning consumer footfall, for example Glasgow City Council’s welcome scheme to provide a £105 shopping voucher to 84,000 less affluent customers, there remains a lack of drive in other urban areas to take the bold steps necessary to encourage consumers back to Scotland’s High Streets.”

Scotland saw footfall 15.8% below pre-pandemic levels, with London being 15.7% lower, and Northern Ireland 14.7% down.

The best performing part of the UK was north west England, which saw footfall down by 4.4%.

A spokesman for the Scottish Government said the “figures highlight that households across the country are facing a serious cost-of-living crisis which is exacerbated by Brexit, which is contributing to rising inflation and pushing up food prices”.

The spokesman said Holyrood is taking action to “support businesses and support town and city centre recovery”.

“Since the start of the pandemic, businesses have benefitted from more than £4.7 billion in business support, including around £1.6 billion in rates relief, the £80 million Covid Economic Recovery Fund, which has funded the gift voucher scheme in Glasgow, and the £6 million City Centre Recovery Fund,” he said.