Wrexham Stores To Cash In On Olympic Opening Hours

Some Wrexham stores will be taking advantage in the temporary change in laws to allow trading on Sundays, as spotted by Wrexham.com reader ‘wrexview’ in our forums.

The law, which was announced in the Budget 2012, will mean that shops with a floor area of more than 280 square metres (around the size of a tennis court) will not be subject to current Sunday trading restrictions during the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Usually they are restricted under normal laws to six hours of trading, with most closing at 4pm if they are open at all.

The suspension will only be for eight Sundays, from 22 July to the end of the Paralympic Games on 9 September. After this period the current Sunday trading restrictions will apply again.

Business Minister Mark Prisk said on the launch of the trading hours: “This will be a fantastic opportunity to showcase, not just London, but the whole of the country to the rest of the world and provide a boost for the economy, sales and employment. Retail workers will keep all their legal protections, such as the right to opt-out of Sunday working, but many will want to take the opportunity to work extra or different hours. I want employers to work with their staff so that we can all make the most of the Olympics. I want to make it clear that this is a temporary measure and not a test case for a permanent relaxation of the rules in the future.”

James Lowman, Chief Executive of the Association of Convenience Stores, did say “This will cost convenience stores £1,500 in sales per day” and “We fear this is the thin end of the wedge, and that supermarket lobbyists will persuade the Government to extend these provisions on a permanent basis“.

Wrexham.com contacted supermarkets in town to find out if they were taking advantage of the law change and we found:
Tesco – opening 24hrs on Sundays
Asda – Opening until 8pm Sundays
Morrisons – They are aware of the change in law but awaiting guidance from head office.

Any stores taking part do need to notify the local authority as its a licencing change, so we asked the council who had notified so far, the council told us “So far we have had 2 shops (Co op Borras Rd and Marks & Spencer, Eagles Meadow) apply for temporary changes within this 8 week period.”

We imagine that Tescos and the like have their notifications going in this week!