"If any evidence is required as to the relevance of footfall as an indicator of consumer activity it was provided by the results for last week; the commencement of the school term and the return to work of those who had been on holiday led to a decline in footfall across all retail destinations last week from the week before, with a far greater drop in activity in coastal towns which had been visited by many for staycations and daycations over the summer.  

In contrast, footfall rose from the week before in both Outer London town centres and in Market Towns whilst declining in both Central London and in regional cities outside of the capital, demonstrating that the majority of employees continue to work from home. Working at home is clearly supporting high streets generally, with a decline in high street footfall across the UK last week from the week before that was less than a third of that in shopping centres and half that in retail parks. 

Although it is evident that the vast majority of employees are continuing to work from home, it seems that the drift back to offices might have commenced; Springboard's "Central London Back to Office Footfall Benchmark" (which comprises only those locations in areas with offices rather than retail) showed a rise in footfall last week from the week before whilst across Central London as a whole footfall declined."