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Sunday trading hours could be extended to give businesses greater flexibility over their weekend opening hours, the Chancellor George Osborne has announced.
Speaking at the Summer Budget 2015, the first all-Conservative budget speech since 1996, Osborne said that elected mayors and councils could be given powers to relax local laws if they think it will boost productivity and spending.
The law currently allows smaller shops to open all day on Sunday but restricts those over 3,000 sq ft to six hours between 10am and 6pm. The proposed change would allow mayors or councils to extend Sunday trading for additional hours within parameters that they would determine.
Helen Dickinson, director general at the British Retail Consortium (BRC), said: “Clearly, devolving decisions on Sunday trading times to major towns and cities is a very significant step. A key issue will be how local authorities reach decisions around altering trading hours.
“Effective consultation with business and the community, clarity and certainty are essential. We will be looking very closely at the plans and working with our members to understand their views and priorities and develop and industry position as the consultation moves forward.”
However many believe that the move may have a negative impact on independent retailers who will lose their longer opening time advantage over larger stores.
Osborne also announced the introduction of a new National Living Wage, in which all businesses across the UK will have to pay working people over the age of 25 at least £7.20 an hour from April 2016, rising to £9 an hour by 2020.
