London politics
fromwww.bbc.com
1 week agoHarrow makes free parking scheme permanent
Harrow Council permanently establishes one-hour free parking across 13 council car parks and all on-street bays to boost local shopping and footfall.
Footfall on Super Saturday (20 Dec 2025) failed to deliver the expected flurry of festive footfall, as consumer hesitancy delays spending with shoppers holding out for last-minute deals, according to data from Sensormatic Solutions, the leading global retail solutions portfolio of Johnson Controls. Its ShopperTrak Analytics data, which captures 40 billion store visits globally each year, showed that store visits yesterday (20 Dec 2025) dipped -6.9% year-on-year.
Its ShopperTrak Analytics data, which captures 40billion store visits globally each year, showed that footfall rose +4.4% over the weekend (Sat 13 & Sun 14 Dec 2025) compared to the weekend before. Shopper counts across last week also increased steadily, rising +3.6% on the week before (01 - 07 Dec 2025 vs 08 - 14 Dec 2025). However, footfall across Saturday and Sunday remained lower than 2024, falling -5.7% and -5.4% year-on-year respectively.
According to the British Retail Consortium (BRC)-Sensormatic data in the four weeks from 2 to 29 November the total UK footfall decreased by 0.8% in November (YoY), down from -0.7% in October. High Street footfall decreased by 1.2% in November (YoY), down from +0.6% in October. Retail Park footfall decreased by 0.4% in November (YoY), up from -0.5% in October. Shopping Centre footfall decreased by 1.3% in November (YoY), down from -0.9% in October.
The brand's ShopperTrak Analytics data, which captures 40 billion store visits globally each year, showed that total UK footfall over the weekend was up compared to 2024 (+0.7%) - traffic on Sunday (30 Nov 2025) jumped +5% year-on-year and +13.2% week-on-week. Saturday (29 Nov 2025) saw lower levels of store visits compared to 2024 (-1.9%) but rose +19.4% against the week prior. High Streets were the best performing retail destination across the weekend, with footfall rising +1.5% year-on-year across the two-days.
Fears over the strength of the UK economy appear to have kept shoppers away from high streets on Black Friday, adding to growing evidence that consumer caution will weigh heavily on growth into 2026. Footfall across all shopping destinations fell by 2% on Friday and was 7.2% lower than the equivalent days last year, according to data from monitoring firm MRI Software. Only locations close to central London offices bucked the trend, seeing a slight lift as workers browsed stores during breaks