London retailers badly hit after bombings

The number of shoppers in central London fell sharply in July, as the bomb attacks on the city kept daytrippers and tourists …

The number of shoppers in central London fell sharply in July, as the bomb attacks on the city kept daytrippers and tourists away.

Retail consultancy SPSL said customer footfall, or the number of shoppers, in central London fell 12.6 percent in July from a year ago. Shopper numbers in the country as a whole were down 2.4 percent on the year, to the lowest July level in 4 years.

SPSL said the city's Live8 rock concert and the Wimbledon tennis championship had already kept Londoners out of the shops at the start of the month, and the bombs on July 7 and attempted attacks on July 21 exacerbated the fall in the rest of July.

The fall in central London was "symptomatic that many daytrippers and tourists have decided to delay or abort shopping trips to the capital, reflecting fears of a series of incidents", said SPSL director Tim Denison.

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"It seems terrorist activity is now considered an ongoing everyday threat which will continue to impact on the London stores and potentially further afield for some months to come," he added.

Tourists spend around 5.5 billion pounds per year in London and a decline in their numbers would hit the city's beleaguered retailers hard. Airlines such as Ryanair have also expressed concern about the impact of the attacks on revenues.

Shopper numbers in central London were up 17.7 percent in July compared with June, but this was considerably weaker than the 42.2 percent month-on-month increase recorded in July 2004.

July is normally a busy month for retailers, with a sales boost from the start of summer discounting and school holidays. But people have been tightening their belts this year after a series of interest rate rises and amid weakening house prices.

The slowdown in spending is also starting to worry the Bank of England and recent comments by policymakers expressing concern that a weakening housing market could be denting consumption have fuelled speculation of a cut in interest rates.