Figures point to a dive in visits to high streets last week while an interest group representing the night time economy said businesses suffered a downturn of more than 50% on the busiest weekend of the year.
Its chief executive, Michael Kill, said:"Feedback from members across the UK has suggested that strike action has had a deeper impact than expected, with businesses seeing over 50% downturn in trade on the busiest weekend of the year."
"With an estimated £2bn in lost revenue, and costs due to increase in the new year, the current trading environment is untenable for businesses."RMT leader: Rail strikes deal 'achievable' He warned a"huge swathe" of businesses would go to the wall early in the New Year unless the government intervened to support the night time economy and wider hospitality sectors.while also grappling rising costs of their own.
"Instead, footfall across UK retail destinations took a tumble last week. Whilst the cold weather prevailed, which would undoubtedly have had some impact, the contrast with the results for the week before clearly demonstrate that it was the rail strikes that were the key impact on footfall." The report was released as retail frets over the impact of strikes at Royal Mail on online orders during the core Christmas season.
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