From Thursday 5th November 2020, England enters a second lockdown. This means that non-essential shops, plus pubs and restaurants will be closing for the duration of the four week long lockdown.
There has been some confusion over which stores are classed as essential and which are non-essential, so here we have all the clarification you will need.
Which Shops Will Remain Open During Lockdown?
Shops selling essential items such as food, medical supplies and hardware will be allowed to remain open. That means supermarkets, pharmacies, newsagents, health shops, pet shops, hardware stores and bicycle shops.
Most furniture, retail and department stores will be required to close. However, a few of our favourite shops for home buys won’t be closing their doors including the following CONFIRMED stores:
- Poundland
- B&M
- Home Bargains
- The Range
- Wilko
- Tesco
- Asda
- Sainsbury's
- Iceland
- Waitrose
- Aldi
- Lidl
- Co-op
- Morrisons
- Farm Foods
- Heron Foods
- B&Q
- Homebase
- Wickes
- Screwfix
- Superdrug
- Boots
- Pets At Home
- M&S Food Hall
- Halfords
Other businesses that can stay open are: petrol stations, car repair and MOT services, bicycle shops, and taxi and vehicle hire businesses. Banks, building societies, post offices, loan providers and money transfer businesses, funeral directors, launderettes and dry cleaners, medical and dental services, vets, agricultural supplies shops, storage and distribution facilities, car parks, public toilets and motorway service areas and outdoor playgrounds.
Which Stores Will Close During Lockdown?
Shops that aren't considered essential are required to close from November 5th 2020. This includes stores that only sell clothes, electronics, books, gifts and homeware. Here are the confirmed store closures so far:
- Currys (some stores will remain open for Click and Collect)
- Carphone Warehouse
- Smyths (some stores will remain open for Click and Collect)
- The Entertainer
- Early Learning Centre
- Monsoon
- Clarks
- Clintons
- Primark
- Waterstones
- Ernest Jones
- Debenhams
- Dorothy Perkins
- Evans
- Topshop
- Matalan
- Game
- H&M
- HMV
- Jessops
- Lakeland
- John Lewis
- Marks and Spencer (stores with food halls will remain open)
- New Look
- Next
- Peacocks
- WHSmith (stores with post offices will remain open)
What Shops and Businesses Will Have To Close?
Shops that aren't considered essential are required to close from Thursday November 5th.
All pubs, bars and restaurants in England have also been ordered to temporarily close for a second time however they will be allowed to continue operating for takeaways and deliveries of food.
All beauty, hairdressers, entertainment venues (such as theatres and cinemas), leisure and sports facilities, accomodation, places of worship, community centres and halls and tattoo shops are all closing too.
Will The Post Office Remain Open?
Post offices will remain open as an essential service, the government has confirmed, on the provision that Covid-safe guidelines are strictly adhered to. This measure follows on from the restrictions seen in the first lockdown, when all Post Offices continued to trade, while the Royal Mail continued their postal delivery service.
Will Libraries Stay Open?
Libraries will be able to remain open for click-and-collect services and to provide IT access, but will otherwise face restrictions during the second lockdown.
We will of course keep you updated with more information as soon as we get it.
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