LONDON (Reuters) – Shopper numbers in central London rose 6.5% last week compared with a week before, adding to evidence that workers were returning to the office, retail intelligence company Springboard said on Monday.

Springboard reported that footfall increased 8.8% in central London, which is dominated more by offices than shops, during the week to Saturday. However, gains were not recorded on all major streets from Monday through Friday, before falling on Saturday.

Springboard insights director Diane Wehrle said that high street footfall is undoubtedly supported in part by a shift to work, as evidenced by an increase in traffic from central London, large cities outside the capital and smaller streets in the outer London.

Springboard reported that although shopper numbers were 18.4% greater last week than they were a year ago in all locations, this was still 15.2% less than before the pandemic.