Romford has one of the UK’s best retail recoveries since shops reopened on April 12, according to an index monitoring the number of people entering stores.
Based on research from Ipsos’ Retail Recovery Index, footfall in Romford last week was found to have the second-biggest increase nationally compared to the same period in 2019.
Romford ranks highest in London, followed by Chelsea and Kingston Upon Thames, and is only beaten by Worcester in the country.
Explaining the findings, Ipsos head of retail analytics and insights Dr Tim Denison said:
“Our Retail Recovery Index shows the huge appetite for shoppers to return to their local high streets after a difficult period of lockdown.”
However, the retail expert said London lags behind the north east and west Midlands, which have seen a strong recovery as people continue to shop locally.
Tourist destinations ranked bottom of the recovery index, with the City of London down 58.8 per cent, the West End 45 pc and Oxford 41.9 pc on the same period in 2019.
The data is drawn from a nationally representative sample of over 4,000 retail outlets, excluding grocery and convenience stores.
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