Oxford continues to beat national footfall while attracting local visitors

Oxford may not have been blessed with a visit from Taylor Swift, whose tour boosted footfall averages across the UK in June – yet the city has beaten UK retail footfall for the 13th consecutive month.

In June 2024, Oxford's footfall declined by 0.6% compared to June 2023. Across the UK, meanwhile, footfall declined by 2.3%, and High Street footfall by 3.1%. Footfall across the UK was propped up by Scotland, which increased by 0.2%, while English footfall decreased by 2.6%.

Helen Dickinson, Chief Executive of the British Retail Consortium, said:

With June failing to live up to last year’s heatwave, overall footfall declined last month compared to the previous year. However retail parks and shopping centres did see an uptick compared to the previous month’s washout, and footfall levels in Edinburgh and Liverpool were boosted as Taylor Swift enchanted crowds of fans. Retailers are hoping that warmer weather and maybe, just maybe, a successful European Championships for England could bring footfall home this July. 

As the new government forms, it is vital that the problems facing local communities are addressed in its first hundred days. Planning reform must be a priority - a fast-track planning system, which includes automatic approval in certain cases will give retailers tools to invest up and down the country. Speeding up these processes, alongside reform of business rates, will help town and city centres to thrive. With our high streets undergoing transformation, as properties are used more often for wider purposes beyond retail, these reforms are essential for successful regeneration of local areas across the UK and ensuring footfall recovers in the medium and longer term.

In the last quarter, Oxford continued to show a steady uptick in footfall from OX postcodes. This suggests that efforts to attract local visitors, including the Oxford Folk Festival, pedestrian friendly improvements to Market and Broad Street, could be having an impact.

Councillor Alex Hollingsworth, Oxford City Council’s cabinet member for Business, Culture and an Inclusive Economy, said:

Footfall in the shopping streets is one important indicator of the commercial health of the city and we are pleased with the figures. We are also delighted that so many people are using the many free attractions we have to offer, including the city’s beautiful green spaces, waterways, historic buildings and museums.

Oxford’s visitor offer continues to evolve. The recent opening of The Store hotel in the former Boswells provides high-end city centre accommodation. This week we reported that Barclays and HSBC are moving from their large Cornmarket units to smaller units in Jesus College’s new Northgate development, potentially freeing up prominent sites for dining or retail use. As online retail continues to reshape shoppers’ behaviour, Oxford appears to be holding up better than most.

UK footfall data and commentary from the British Retail Consortium. Oxford Footfall data sourced by FOI to Oxford City Council, in turn sourced via mobile phone data from Huq Industries.