Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news‘Drab December’ caps another year of declining footfall on UK high streetNew data from the Bank of England has provided further signs of an economic slowdown.Firstly, there has been a slowdown in mortgage lending.While December saw some flurries of festive footfall around a few key trading days, overall, the picture was filled with much less sparkle as shopper traffic remained subdued in what should have been the highlight of the Golden Quarter. While store visits did build ahead of Christmas, it was never quite enough to reverse the shopper count deficit against last year. As footfall limped towards the festive finish line, December’s lacklustre performance compounds a disappointing end to 2024, marking the second consecutive year of declining store traffic. Retailers will now need to look afresh to 2025 and chart a course to adopt innovative strategies to reverse this trend or maximise the sales potential of fewer visitors, finding new ways to make each store visit count. Continue reading...