Threat of rioting caused nationwide drop in sales

The threat of more than 100 riots across the country led to a 10% drop in hospitality sales, an industry body has said.

The expectation of further far-right violence last Wednesday, which failed to materialise after more than a week of rioting, meant many shops, pubs and restaurants closed early and town centres emptied.

The impact was even worse in the areas where police expected riots to take place, data from trade body UKHospitality said.

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In those areas, sales were down as much as 40% with footfall declining up to 75%, the body said. The figures were described as “startling” by the UKHospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls.

City centres and coastal towns alike were hit as people were instructed to work from home while events and trips were cancelled.

Areas outside of towns, like retail parks saw a “modest” increase in visitors, according to footfall data from real estate software company MRI Software, formally called Springboard.

Shopping centres experienced a fall on all days except Tuesday, MRI Software said.

The worst affected areas were the northern parts of England and Yorkshire, the East Midlands and the West Midlands, it added.

The company said it expected to see higher visitor numbers across the board at this time of year with the school holidays under way.

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The clean up

Sky News revealed on Friday that Britain’s most influential small business group urged the home secretary to ensure swift support for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) affected by the wave of rioting.

This was accepted by business secretary Jonathan Reynolds who backed calls for insurance companies to act swiftly to help businesses recover.

UKHospitality represents more than 130,000 venues including pubs, bars and restaurants, hotels, indoor leisure and contract catering businesses.