Shoppers in central London up 6.5% as workers return to offices - Springboard

LONDON (Reuters) - Shopper numbers in central London rose 6.5% last week compared with a week before, adding to evidence that workers were returning to the office, retail intelligence company Springboard said on Monday.

In central areas of the capital dominated by offices rather than stores, footfall rose 8.8% in the week to Saturday, Springboard said, with gains recorded across all high streets on Monday to Friday before dipping on Saturday.

"High street footfall was undoubtedly supported by a shift back to the office, demonstrated by a greater uplift from the week before in central London and large city centres outside of the capital, than in smaller high streets and in outer London," said Springboard's insights director Diane Wehrle.

While shopper numbers in all destinations were 18.4% higher last week than the same week a year ago, they were still 15.2% lower than pre-pandemic levels, Springboard said.

(Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Alistair Smout)