Boris Johnson

Bira urges PM to ‘give us back our high streets’

The British Independent Retailers Association (Bira) is calling on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to intervene and “give us back our high streets”. In an exclusive Bira survey, three quarters (75%) of independent retailers said trade is being “detrimentally impacted” by lockdown road closures. The survey revealed that two thirds (66.1%)…

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Usdaw urges retailers to maintain existing two-metre social distancing in stores

Shopworkers trade union Usdaw is urging retailers to maintain social distancing in shops at two metres, as agreed in joint safety guidance, after Boris Johnson announced a “one metre plus” rule for situations where two metre distancing cannot be observed. In a speech in parliament yesterday (23 June), the PM…

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PM confirms relaxation of two-metre social distancing rule

Boris Johnson has announced a reduction in the two-metre social distancing rule. In a speech in parliament this afternoon, the PM said that while maintaining at least a two-metre distance is still “recommended where possible”, the official guidance will be updated to recommend “one-metre-plus” where necessary, if “mitigations” such as…

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Bira opposed to proposed relaxation of Sunday trading laws

The British Independent Retailers Association (Bira) has expressed concern for proposed relaxation of Sunday trading laws. Under plans being suggested by the government, England could suspend Sunday trading laws for a year in a bid to boost the economy. However, Bira, who has added its support to the ‘Keep Sunday…

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Bira welcomes £50m fund to prepare high streets for shoppers return

The British Independent Retailers Association (Bira) has welcomed a new £50m boost to help local authorities prepare high streets for reopening. High Streets Minister Simon Clarke announced the fund for councils to help their local high streets get safely back to business earlier this week. The ‘Reopening High Streets Safely…

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Non-essential retailers set to open in June

Thousands of high street shops, department stores and shopping centres across England are set to reopen next month once they are “Covid-19 secure” and can show customers will be kept safe, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said. All non-essential retailers including shops selling clothes, shoes, toys, furniture, books, and electronics,…

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‘Many independent retailers are ready to reopen now’, says Bira CEO

The CEO of The British Independent Retailers Association (Bira) Andrew Goodacre has said many independent retailers are ready to reopen now, having already worked hard to put measures in place to keep both customers and staff safe. The news comes as non-essential retailers will be allowed to reopen from Monday,…

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Are we beginning to re-open anyway?

The PM says he will soon announce the reopening plan after weeks of compulsory lockdown for the UKs public and its businesses. Boris Johnson is under pressure to come up with the blueprint for restarting the economy as the list of suffering firms grows larger and more and more redundancies…

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Job support to be wound down, M&S dividend suspended, ventilator production slows, property market halts

Chancellor Rishi Sunack says he will wean the economy off his support schemes in a “gradual” wind-down, to help prevent soaring unemployment on ‘expiration day’. His announcement, made to MPs, came in response to concerns that a definite cut-off date would produce an explosion in redundancies and layoffs. Currently, the…

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Online pet food prices increase amid Covid-19 virus outbreak, report finds

A new report by the Office for National Statistics has revealed an increase in online prices on pet food amid the coronavirus pandemic. The report revealed a 3.1% increase in price for the two weeks between 16-22 March and 23-29 March, with an average of an increase of 1.1% per…

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