Retailers call for shop reopenings based on safety standards
The reopening of shops after the coronavirus lockdown should be based on safety standards rather than size or business type, a top retail chief has said.
Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium (BRC), said she expected a “gradual lifting” of the restrictions, with schools and transport the first to reopen.
But she said retailers should be allowed to open their doors again based on the safety and social distancing measures they have put in place.
These measures include staggering shift times, restricting the number of people allowed in the store at one time and installing plastic screens at tills.
Dickinson said it was “incumbent” on shops to ensure the proper precautions were taken, adding that supermarkets have “shown us the way” in recent months.
As well as protecting store staff, these actions would “give us confidence as shoppers, members of the public, that we can go out to shop,” she told the BBC.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to outline the next steps in the UK’s response to coronavirus in an address to the nation this evening.
The government has adapted its slogan from “stay at home” to “stay alert” as the country moves into a new phase of the lockdown.
However, Johnson is not expected to announce significant changes to the restrictions, with only garden centres slated to reopen from next week.
Dickinson said the reopening of schools was also important for retailers, with many retail staff unable to return to work while their children are still at home.
She said a phased lifting of restrictions across different industries, with school and transport reopened early on, would help retail workers with children.
The retail chief also called for a “tapering down” of the government’s furlough scheme, which is due to run until the end of June, to ensure businesses were not hit by a “cliff edge of support falling away”.