The National Federation of Retail Newsagents (NFRN) has vowed to keep up the pressure on the government to ensure Sunday Trading law are not relaxed permanently after the Olympics.
The promise came in the light of new evidence that shows takings in independent newsagents’ stores have dropped since the laws were relaxed on Sunday 22 July.
NFRN national president, Alan Smith, said: “We warned the government that allowing supermarkets to trade around the clock for eight weeks over the Olympics period was both unnecessary and unwelcome and would deny small shopkeepers the opportunity to benefit from the £804m anticipated spend that the Olympics and Paralympics would bring.
“Now it seems that our worse fears are coming true. It is unacceptable for independent retailers to be seeing their takings fall – in some cases by as much as 10%, We protested loudly when the temporary scrapping of the laws was first announced and we will now be stepping up activity to remind the government that it has previously committed to helping and supporting small shops and to ensure that this temporary move does not become permanent.”
In trade press reports this week one Kent retailer reported a drop in his Sunday takings of 10%. Others said takings had fallen by between 3% and 5% as a result of supermarkets nearby trading for longer.
Source: NFRN
