Fewer Britons visiting shops after Brexit vote: survey

London

THE number of shoppers heading to British high streets and retail centres fell at the fastest pace in more than two years in June, with the weeks around the country's vote to leave the European Union (EU) hit particularly hard, a survey found.

Retail footfall across Britain was 2.8 per cent lower than a year earlier in the five weeks from May 29 to July 2. This was the sharpest decline since February 2014 and down from a 0.3 per cent increase in May, a survey from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) showed on Monday. "The results are shaped by a political and economic storm against a backdrop of rain downpours and generally inclement weather throughout the whole month," said Diane Wehrle, marketing director at Springboard, a retail data company that sponsors the survey.