UK Shopper Numbers Rise After Launch of State-Funded Dining Scheme

UK Shopper Numbers Rise After Launch of State-Funded Dining Scheme
Shoppers walk past social distancing signs at the Covent Garden shopping and dining district, amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London on Aug. 2, 2020. Toby Melville/Reuters
|Updated:

LONDON—Shopper numbers, or footfall, across all British retail destinations rose 3.8 percent last week from the previous week, with the start of a state-funded eating out scheme helping evening traffic more than lunchtimes, industry data showed on Monday.

Britain’s retail and hospitality sectors, already struggling with high rents and business taxes, were hit particularly hard by the coronavirus lockdown and thousands of job losses have been announced.