Mixed picture emerging about Coronation effect on retail

A mixed picture is emerging about the effect of the Coronation weekend across the UK's retail sector.

Figures from MRI Springboard suggested footfall at shops throughout the UK on Saturday was 13.2% lower than on the same day last year.

Diane Wehrle, insights director at MRI Springboard, said the Coronation "somewhat inevitably drew consumers away from stores and destinations as many were watching the proceedings".

However, footfall improved on Sunday - helped by better weather - rising 7.3% on the same time last year, although it was down slightly on the previous bank holiday weekend.

The overall impact of the extra bank holiday on the economy is hard to gauge, as while some businesses benefited, others would have been closed.

Last year, the Office for National Statistics said some firms had seen revenues fall in June after the bank holiday weekend for Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee.

A similarly mixed picture has emerged about the hospitality industry.

Speaking to the BBC, The City Pub Group said that after an "anaemic" Saturday, sales on Sunday had been "really, really strong".

Extended pub opening hours had been expected to provide a £104m boost to the sector, according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research.

Trade group UK Hospitality said it was a weekend of two halves.

The City Pub Group owns 43 pubs across the south of England and south Wales. "Saturday was a washout - the weather was awful and that was reflected in very anaemic sales," said Clive Watson, the group's executive chairman.

"But Sunday was really, really strong," he added. "Despite street parties we were 82% up on this time last year. It's a bit of a relief."

He also said that the first bank holiday in May had been the chain's "best weekend we'd ever had" with an £800,000 turnover.

According to the Centre for Retail Research, about £200m was expected to be spent on food and drink alone over the Coronation weekend, with consumers adding more than £1.4bn in total to the UK economy.

Pubs opening hours had been extended over the coronation weekend.

The chief executive of trade group UK Hospitality, Kate Nicholls, said visitors were focused on London and the Coronation itself for the first half of the weekend, whereas the second half was about communities and a "more normal bank holiday".

"We've seen higher levels of footfall than we would normally expect at this time of year as a result of the Coronation activities going on. In total it could be worth an additional £350m worth of sales," she said.

Businesses in London fared best, she said, with hotel occupancy in the centre of the capital running at 95% on the Friday and Saturday nights. The economic impact of bank holidays was significant, but it was also regional and weather-dependent, Ms Nicholls said.

However, having three bank holidays in May was testing for most household finances, especially during the current cost of living crisis, she added.

"There is a finite amount of spending money that people have so while you'll get an uplift on one or maybe two of them, it's unlikely you'll get it sustained across the whole of the month."

Ms Nicholls also said with the addition of the final of Eurovision on 13 May and the FA Cup final on 3 June, the four weeks was due to be an expensive one for the British public.

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