Plan B keeps shoppers away from Main Street as Dyson tells staff to keep working Business

Shoppers stayed away from Main Street after Boris Johnson announced “Plan B” restrictions to tackle omicron in a blow to retail and hospitality businesses in their prime. busiest of the year.

Visits to stores across Britain fell last week as the public was warned the new variant of Covid is highly contagious and urged to work from home, Springboard data shows.

Meanwhile, Dyson has become the latest company to tell some employees they should keep coming to the office amid a growing backlash from companies against the new restrictions.

The number of shoppers was down 1.1% in the week of Dec. 11 from the previous seven days, according to Springboard, due to a 2.7% drop in visits to high street stores.

Attendance was particularly moderate on Saturday – usually a peak day before Christmas – with a drop of 1.2 pc in numbers.

Diane Wehrle, Springboard, said: “The hoped-for increase in pre-Christmas commerce has not materialized… Footfall has increased in shopping parks and malls, but only marginally, which has not happened. been sufficient to generate an overall increase. ”

Attendance was down 18% last week from 2019 levels, but was 18% higher than last year when Covid cases also increased.

The biggest drop of 5.7% was recorded in coastal towns, partly because of the cold, followed by shops in central and outside London, down 5.3% and 5.2% respectively .

Businesses should fear a further decline in the near term. The data covers the period after the Plan B rules were announced but before the new advice to work from home whenever possible took effect on Monday.