Scotland’s post-Christmas lockdown may cost shops £135m per week

The Scotland-wide lockdown from Boxing Day will see shops miss out on an estimated £135m for each week they are closed, the Scottish Retail Consortium has said.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced all of mainland Scotland will be put under Level 4 coronavirus restrictions on 26 December for at least three weeks.

Non-essential shops, restaurants and pubs will have to close while the restrictions are in place, although takeaway food will be permitted.

The First Minister also announced a travel ban over the festive period between Scotland and the rest of the UK – and indoor gatherings will only be allowed on Christmas Day for up to eight people from three households.

The SRC has estimated that the shutdown could see shops miss out on £135m in lost revenue each week during the traditionally-busy shopping period after Christmas.

David Lonsdale, the SRC director, called for additional financial support for shops and an extension of business rates relief into 2021-22.

Lonsdale said: “We recognise that Government has difficult decisions to make and the situation with the pandemic is fast moving, but this hugely disappointing news rounds off a torrid year for Scottish retail and is a further hammer-blow to non-food stores who have already borne so much during this crisis.

“Retailers in Scotland have invested over £40m thus far making stores Covid-secure for customers and staff, and Sage’s advice has said throughout that closing non-essential retail has a minimal impact on the spread of the virus.

“The consequences of this move could be severe. This decision comes only a week after the end of the local lockdowns in west central Scotland and slap bang in the middle of peak trading which so many are depending on to power their recovery and tide them over the leaner winter period.

“Faced with this news – and the prospect of losing £135m each week in revenues during the lockdown – many stores will be in serious difficulty.

“Many could be lumbered with unsold pre-Christmas stock which will be difficult to shift in the absence of the usual Boxing Day and new year discounted sales events, adding to cash flow woes.

“All of this will have implications for the survival of shops, for retail jobs and the vitality of our retail destinations.”

From today non-essential retail in large parts of England will be closed until at least 30 December when the new Tier 4 restrictions applied to London and much of the South East will be reviewed.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has warned that Tier 4 restrictions could be applied for months while the vaccine is rolled out. As of 8am on Saturday some 350,000 people had been vaccinated with the Government aiming for 500,000 by the end of the weekend.

Meanwhile Wales has brought forward is proposed Boxing Day lockdown to today with non-essential retail closed for the foreseeable future. Northern Ireland is set to impose a strict six-week lockdown from Boxing Day.

Yesterday British Retail Consortium CEO Helen Dickinson called the new restrictions, and the manner in which they were introduced without warning, as "hugely regrettable". She said that British retailers overall would lose £2bn in sales a week and many thousands more jobs would now be at risk.

“Retailers have invested hundreds of millions of pounds making stores Covid-securefor customers and staff.

“The consequences of this decision will be severe.

“For businesses, the government’s stop-start approach is deeply unhelpful – this decision comes only two weeks after the end of the last national lockdown and right in the middle of peak trading which so many are depending on to power their recovery.

“Faced with this news – and the prospect of losing £2bn per week in sales for the third time this year – many businesses will be in serious difficulty and many thousands of jobs could be at risk," Dickinson said.