West End set for 'challenging’ first Christmas without Covid

Too few shoppers: footfall is still only 83% of pre-pandemic levels while spending will be 28% down on 2019

- RETAIL Rhiannon Curry

WEST END retailers are bracing for a "challenging" Christmas despite it being the first without Covid restrictions in three years as shopper numbers and spending languish far behind pre-pandemic levels.

Research from the New West End Company (NWEC), which represents 600 retailers, restaurants, hotels and landlords in the area, estimated that £1.55 billion will be spent over the eightweek Christmas trading period, 24% higher than in 2021, but still 28% lower than in 2019.

Footfall in the area is still only 83% of 2019 levels, it said.

NWEC also blamed rising household costs, as well as a lack of high-spending overseas visitors, for its lacklustre predictions and called on the Government to reconsider the introduction of taxfree shopping and extend Sunday trading urs.

Dee Corsi, interim chief executive of NWEC, said: "While I'm heartened to see the West End's recovery continue to grow this winter, for us to succeed in the long term we need to ensure that the nation's High Street and the wider country remains globally competitive.