UK retail visits fall 2.9% as shopping centres lose ground

September visits fall across all three retail formats

Visits to UK retail destinations were 2.9% lower in September 2026 than a year earlier, according to BRC-Sensormatic figures reported by Retail Insight Network. The decline accelerated from August’s 1.7% annual fall, signalling a tougher backdrop for businesses competing for shoppers’ attention.

Shopping centres suffered the largest drop among the formats measured. Their visitor numbers fell 3.5% year on year, against a 0.5% reduction in August. Retail parks also weakened: September’s 1.7% decline followed growth of 1% in the previous month, Retail Insight Network reported.

High streets showed a different trajectory, although visits remained below last year’s level. Footfall fell 3% in September, marginally better than August’s 3.1% decline. That left retail parks with the smallest annual fall of the three formats, despite their reversal from growth.

The national breakdown was uneven. Northern Ireland recorded a 2.1% increase, making it the only UK nation with rising footfall. England registered a 3.4% decline, Wales a 3% fall and Scotland a 0.7% reduction, according to the figures carried by Retail Insight Network.

Visitor counts offer a location signal, not a sales verdict

The BRC-Sensormatic monitor measures visits to retail locations rather than money spent. September’s figures therefore cannot establish whether retailers’ revenue fell by a similar amount, or whether customers who did visit spent more per trip. For market-entry teams, that distinction separates evidence about passing trade from evidence about commercial returns.

The policy debate centres on the forthcoming Autumn Budget, which sets out the UK Government’s tax and spending plans. Retail Insight Network identified business rates — the tax charged on non-domestic properties, including shops — as a particular concern for the British Retail Consortium, the sector’s trade association.

Physical expansion remains part of some retailers’ plans. Market Entry Wire has separately reported on Aldi’s planned 40-store UK expansion within a £900m investment programme. That commitment provides a useful counterpoint to the footfall data: an aggregate decline in visits is not, by itself, evidence that retailers have abandoned investment in stores.

BRC seeks rates restraint as Sensormatic points to budget pressure

BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson wants the Chancellor to use the Autumn Budget to lower retailers’ operating costs and avoid a further business-rates increase, Retail Insight Network reported. Her case is that relief would release resources for store investment, help retailers maintain competitive prices and support employment.

Andy Sumpter, Sensormatic’s head of consulting and analytics for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, rejected above-average temperatures as the explanation for September’s weaker visitor numbers. According to Retail Insight Network, he instead highlighted inflation, strained household finances, fuel costs and uncertainty surrounding the Budget as influences on shoppers’ behaviour. His assessment places the emphasis on spending capacity and confidence rather than weather alone.

Autumn Budget and Christmas shape the next decisions

The approaching Christmas trading period gives retailers a near-term challenge: drawing customers into shops while households remain cautious about spending, Retail Insight Network reported. The Budget is also a decision point for property-cost planning, but the material describes an industry request for relief, not an announced tax concession. Businesses assessing UK premises should distinguish that lobbying position from confirmed policy.

For companies entering the UK, the practical implication is to test location assumptions below the national level. September’s differences between nations and retail formats make a single UK-wide footfall figure an incomplete basis for choosing premises. Local visitor trends, evidence of spending and the eventual business-rates position would provide a firmer basis for assessing a store’s prospects; the reported data do not establish how those prospects compare with continental European markets.