Economic activity and social change in the UK, real-time indicators: 28 October 2021

• Average counts of all vehicles on the strategic roads network around English ports increased in August 2021, reaching the highest level since February 2020; the only month-on-month decrease this year occurred in July 2021, down 5 percentage points from the previous month (Highways England). See the accompanying dataset.

• Transactions at Pret A Manger stores in the week ending 21 October 2021 remained lowest in London airports and London city stores at 83% and 84% of the January 2020 average, respectively (Pret A Manger). Section 3.

• 11% of UK businesses not permanently stopped trading reported that production and/or suppliers were affected by the recent increases in wholesale gas prices; within “accommodation and food service activities” 36% were affected (initial results from Wave 42 of Business Insights and Conditions Survey (BICS)). Section 4.

• The system average price (SAP) of gas decreased by 2% in the week to 24 October 2021; this was the first time there were two consecutive weekly declines since 28 February 2021 (National Grid). See the accompanying dataset.

• There was an average of 283 daily ship visits in the week to 24 October 2021, a 2% fall from the previous week; the average number of daily cargo and tanker ship visits fell by 5% to 89 (exactEarth). See the accompanying dataset.

• The seven-day average number of UK daily flights was 3,654 in the week ending 24 October 2021; this was 59% and 166% of the level seen in the equivalent week of 2019 and 2020, respectively (EUROCONTROL). See the accompanying dataset.

• The seasonally adjusted average count of traffic camera activity in London had decreased for all vehicle types in the week ending 24 October 2021; when compared with the previous week, cars, vans and trucks fell by 5%, 5% and 3%, respectively (Transport for London). See the accompanying dataset.

• The volume of motor vehicle traffic on 25 October 2021 was at 96% of its level in the first week of February 2020, unchanged from the previous week (Department for Transport).

• The total volume of online job adverts on 22 October 2021 decreased by 6% from the previous week, to 134% of its February 2020 average level; the highest level of job adverts relative to February 2020 continues to be in the “transport, logistics and warehouse” category, at 390% (Adzuna). See the accompanying dataset.

• In the week to 21 October 2021, the aggregate CHAPS-based indicator of credit and debit card purchases was broadly unchanged from the previous week, at 97% of its February 2020 average. There was a decrease in the “social” spending category by 2 percentage points, and an increase in the “delayable” category by 1 percentage point; spending categories “staple” and “work related” were both broadly unchanged. (Bank of England CHAPS data). See the accompanying dataset.

• In the week to 23 October 2021, overall retail footfall in the UK decreased by 2% from the previous week and was at 85% of the level seen in the equivalent week of 2019; this was wholly driven by a 4% decrease in high street footfall (Springboard).

• The seven-day average estimate of UK seated diners in the week to 25 October 2021 was 123% of the level in the equivalent went of 2019, an increase of 3% from the previous week (OpenTable).

• There were 16,574 company incorporations in the week to 22 October 2021, an increase of 17% from the previous week and 33% higher than the equivalent week of 2019 (12,487) (Companies House). See the accompanying dataset.

• There were 5,764 voluntary dissolution applications (an application from a company to dissolve) in the week to 22 October 2021, a decrease of 14% from the previous week but 14% higher than the equivalent week of 2019 (5,045) (Companies House). See the accompanying dataset.

• There were 6,178 compulsory dissolution first gazettes (a notice issued by Companies House indicating their intention to remove a company from the register) in the week to 19 October 2021 (Companies House). See the accompanying dataset.

Notes:

1. Users should note that the break in the available shipping data (from 14 to 19 June 2021) is when the data collection system changed.

Pret A Manger are a sandwich and coffee shop franchise chain, operating around 400 stores across the UK. Their transactional data are presented as an index and show total weekly till transactions at Pret A Manger shops as a proportion of their average weekly level in the first four weeks of 2020 (between Friday 3 January and Thursday 30 January 2020). Because of this comparison across the time series, users should expect an element of seasonality in the data.

More information on the areas featured is available in the Measuring the data section. These data are also made available every Tuesday via Bloomberg.

In the week ending 21 October 2021, transactions at Pret A Manger stores in Scotland increased by 5 percentage points compared with the previous week. In the same period, stores in Manchester, the West End of London and regional towns saw weekly falls of 6, 3 and 3 percentage points, respectively.

In the latest week, the level of transactions at Pret A Manger stores was highest in Yorkshire and London suburbs, at 149% and 131% of the weekly average level in January 2020, respectively.

The week ending 21 October 2021 saw the highest levels of transactions in both London airports and London stations since the index began. However, transactions in all transport-related stores remain below the January 2020 average level.

Initial results from Wave 42 of the Business Insights and Conditions Survey (BICS) cover the reference period 4 to 17 October 2021, with a response rate of 19.5% (7,460 responses). The survey was live for the period 18 to 26 October 2021.

Faster indicator

A faster indicator provides insights into economic activity using close-to-real-time big data, administrative data sources, rapid response surveys or Experimental Statistics, which represent useful economic and social concepts.

Company incorporations

Incorporations are when a company is added to the Companies House register of limited companies. This can also include where an existing business applies to become a limited company, when it was not one before.

Voluntary dissolution applications

A voluntary dissolution application is when a company applies to begin dissolution proceedings. As such, they effectively choose to be removed from the Companies House register. For a company to be eligible to voluntarily dissolve, it should not have completed any trading activity for a period of three months.

Compulsory dissolutions

When a company fails to file the required financial accounts and/or confirmation statements, if no contact is received by Companies House following a series of letters to the company and its officers, a first gazette notice is published in the Gazette, a notice of the Registrar's intention to dissolve the company.

UK coronavirus restrictions

A full overview of coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions for each of the four UK constituent countries can be found here:

• England
• Scotland
• Wales
• Northern Ireland

These restrictions should be considered when interpreting the data featured throughout this bulletin.

Pret A Manger index

The index shows total weekly till transactions at Pret A Manger stores as a proportion of the companies’ average weekly level in the first four weeks of 2020 (between 3 January 2020 and 30 January 2020).

These data are delivered weekly from Friday to Thursday in a week-ending format.

The index is broken down by region:

• Yorkshire
• London: suburban (stores within Greater London but outside zones 1 & 2)
• London: city (Key Office Areas)
• London: West End (Key Retail Areas)
• London: airports (4 Major Airports in London)
• London: stations (3 Large Train Stations in London)
• Manchester
• Scotland
• regional towns (stores in towns not included in this index)
• regional stations (stores in stations in towns not included in this index)

These regions have been selected because in some areas of the UK there are limited numbers of Pret A Manger stores. For example, at the time of index creation, there were two stores open in Leeds and two in York, leading to these being grouped together as “Yorkshire”.

Wales is omitted from the index as it has only two stores, and regional towns includes shops in towns other than those listed.

Information on the strengths and limitations of the indicators in this bulletin is available in the Coronavirus and the latest indicators of the UK economy and society methodology.