Sunday Trading Laws: How Will They Affect You?

The law previously stated that shops over 280 square metres could only be open for six hours a day, while smaller retailers were allowed to be remain open all day.

With some supermarkets now to be given the go-ahead to trade for longer periods on Sundays, some fear smaller independents will suffer from lessened footfall and sales.

Historically, some small independent retailers have used Sunday as a point of differentiation between themselves and supermarkets by offering consumers a place to shop once the multiples have closed.

Here, the managing director of a Norfolk-based deli, a spokesperson from the British Retail Consortium and the chief executive of the Association Convenience Stores share their views.

Mark Kacary, managing director of The Norfolk Deli
It is highly unlikely that this update will affect small retailers like us. Sunday is the day when we open for the least number of hours (10am–4pm) and that is unlikely to change. Whilst this can be seen as a threat to independents, we believe that this is only more likely to be a threat to the independents which try to fill the gap left open by the Sunday trading laws etc – small shops which sell the same products as the main supermarkets offer, but which tend to be open and remain open at a time when the supermarkets are typically closed. Longer hours on a Sunday could take away one of their key advantages (other than possibly being just on the corner of the high street).

Shops like ours will only be affected if the supermarkets decide to become centres of local artisan foods, where every Tesco will be dramatically different to the other because each store manager would have the authority and ability to buy all of their stock from local producers. However, this is unlikely to happen. It would cost a major supermarket too much, so the differentiator a shop like ours has and will fight to maintain will be to champion the small local producer, to find the very best in high end, quality products, and to stand out as being the place to go when you feel that even somewhere like Waitrose is unable to source the type of cheese you want in the condition you want it in.

Bryan Johnston, BRC spokesperson
Plans to devolve powers on Sunday trading law to elected metro mayors and / or local authorities mark a very significant change, one that needs to be carefully thought through if the impact on local communities, their shops and their staff is to be fully understood.

The government should now conduct an impact assessment to help better inform whether or not businesses and communities stand to benefit from any changes.

The broad diversity of the UK retail industry means that any potential benefit of extending hours on a Sunday to a retailer would only be experienced on a case-by-case basis with each business weighting up what best suits their customers and their business model. Just as no two places are the same, no two stores are alike. That’s why effective consultation with business and the community is crucial if shops and shoppers are to get the clarity and certainty they need.

If these powers were to be devolved then what matters is getting the decision-making process right from the beginning. For instance, the local authority would want to have consulted retailers and other local stakeholders from an early stage.

We will engage fully in the consultation process as it moves forward, working closely with our members to understand how this devolved approach would affect them.

James Lowman, chief executive of ACS
Giving local authorities the responsibility for setting Sunday trading hours will lead to inconsistency and confusion for businesses and shoppers. In areas where large stores’ trading hours are extended, we will simply see the same amount of trade spread over more hours and shifting from small stores to large stores, as was the case when the laws were suspended for the 2012 London Olympics, when overall retail sales actually fell.

Existing Sunday trading laws are a popular compromise that balance the needs of consumers, shopworkers, small stores and families. Over three-quarters of people like the laws as they are, and fewer than one in ten people want to see longer Sunday opening hours. The short period of time that small stores are open while large stores are shut is a crucial advantage for convenience stores, most of which are owned by small businesses. Liberalising Sunday trading hours would make some small stores unviable.