{"id":163249,"date":"2020-10-31T09:49:44","date_gmt":"2020-10-31T09:49:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theindustry.fashion\/non-essential-retail-across-england-braced-for-another-month-long-lockdown\/"},"modified":"2021-08-06T12:08:49","modified_gmt":"2021-08-06T12:08:49","slug":"non-essential-retail-across-england-braced-for-another-month-long-lockdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theindustry.fashion\/non-essential-retail-across-england-braced-for-another-month-long-lockdown\/","title":{"rendered":"Non-essential retail across England braced for another month-long lockdown"},"content":{"rendered":"

Speculation is rife today the Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to impose a month-long national lockdown across England, beginning from Wednesday,<\/strong> that would involve the closure of non-essential retail until at least 1 December.<\/p>\n

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The news would be a devastating blow to retailers in the most important trading quarter of the year<\/strong> when they had hoped to recover some of the losses made during the last lockdown in from March to June.<\/p>\n

It appears the plans for the lockdown were leaked to both The Times<\/em> and The Daily Mail<\/em>, prompting consternation among the public and business leaders who demanded the Government clarify the situation.<\/p>\n

Frances Bishop, founder of independent childrenswear chain The Pud Store, described the announcements as \"crippling\" and criticised the Government for not addressing the public directly\u00a0<\/strong>instead of allowing leaks to certain media outlets.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/franbishop_\/status\/1322451657863606278<\/p>\n

The news is particularly worrying for retailers since the official furlough scheme ends today with employers unclear about what support their businesses might receive<\/strong> should they be forced to close once again.<\/p>\n

However Government health advisers have argued that the move is necessary in order to \"Save Christmas\"<\/strong> and to suppress spiralling cases. The\u00a0Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) has reportedly warned the Government that without drastic action there could be a further 85,000 coronavirus-linked deaths this winter.<\/p>\n

Johnson had been resisting a full lockdown and the Government's new three Tier systems of regional measures has only been in place for little more than a week. However official figures now show that\u00a0more than 500,000 people were estimated to have had coronavirus in the week ending 23 October,<\/strong> with more than one in 100 people infected in England, compared to one in 130 the previous week. There were a further 24,405 positive tests in the UK and a further 274 deaths.<\/p>\n

Britons had been encouraged to begin their Christmas shopping early this year<\/strong> to avoid over-crowding in the shops in a campaign led by the British Retail Consortium, which urged people to \u201cshop early, start wrapping, enjoy Christmas\u201d.<\/p>\n

However a month-long lockdown at a crucial time, which also covers the Black Friday promotional period,<\/strong> will throw retailers' plans into disarray and force more shoppers online. Retail consultant Steve Dresser described the potential of non-essential retail as \"terrible, terrible news\".<\/p>\n

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A month-long lockdown would be terrible, terrible news for non-essential retail and indeed, coming at precisely the wrong time for Christmas.......<\/p>\n

Once again, far too late.<\/p>\n

— Steve Dresser (@dresserman) October 31, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n