The following analysis contains data for the devices at Westdaw, S.C Fuller, Dorking Sports Centre, The Optical Studio, Calliope, Bernard Marcus, Renee’s Health Food Store, Dorking Light & Shade and Westcott & Williams.
- Across GB footfall begin to plateau in September at -35% compared to the equivalent weeks in 2019.
- In mid-September, footfall declined for the first week since April (a decline of 1%), and we anticipate a continued decline will occur aligning with an increase in local lockdowns and tightening of restrictions including the return to work from home.
- Changes to lockdown restrictions have impacted footfall patterns seen across the country yet again.
- One major change that came into effect on the 24th September was the 10pm curfew for restaurants and pubs, requiring these locations to close early. This will affect town centres to different extents depending on the amount of hospitality businesses.
Daily footfall profile
- Figure 1 shows how footfall in Dorking was slightly higher in September than August throughout the morning and afternoon.
- The average footfall profile for September also includes a slight peak from 3-4pm which could be due to the school year starting back up again and students getting picked up from nearby schools, leading to a small rise in the number of people in the town centre.
- With the 10pm curfew for pubs and restaurants coming into effect towards the end of September, footfall in the final hours of the day is slightly lower than seen in August.
- This shows that the 10pm curfew is having a slight impact on late night footfall in Dorking.
Overall footfall volume
- The figure above shows the weekly footfall throughout the month of September for the active footfall devices in Dorking.
- Footfall generally fell in weeks 31, 32 and 33, before rising up again in weeks 34 and 35.
- Figure 3 shows the total footfall combined across all devices throughout September and highlights the decline in footfall throughout this month.
Week-on-week change in footfall
- The week-on-week chart above shows the plateau in footfall and the start of a slight decline with footfall experiencing less dramatic changes in September than in previous months.
- Figure 5 shows that in every week in September, there was a maximum of 3% week-on- week increase or decrease across all footfall devices.
- We anticipate a continued decline throughout October as the number of local lockdowns increase, tightening of restrictions, the return to work from home and the onset of winter weather.
