To think it's time to abolish Sunday trading rules in England

Yes, YABU.

Live in Scotland, work retail. Won't say which as outing, but not vital goods like groceries. We usually shut at 8pm, (although often aren't leaving until 8.30pm or after), except for 6pm on a Sunday - which is nice when you're the one shutting up shop.

Still, I have people rattling my locked doors at 6pm on a Sunday, or coming in at 3 minutes to close expecting a service that takes us past closing - complaining and expecting my staff to stay late when they want to enjoy what's left of their evening (and unpaid, because the company has set hours allocated!)

I like retail, and I adore customers. But it has to be said, those fuckers rile me. Because at the end of the day, we are open 11 hours every single weekday, and 8 hours on a Sunday. Why on earth can people not manage any of the other 70+ hours over the course of a week?

And don't get me started on 'I work X amount of hours per week so it's hard' - yes, I'm well aware, because I'm one of the retail workers stuck working until most of the other shops close at 8pm, too! I still manage to do my shopping..

And yes, worked retail in England where I was born, and the 4pm close on a Sunday was absolute bliss.

Everyone wants everything available to them, all the time - that's the problem. Even GP practices don't open on a weekend at all, for goodness sake. Nothing is that vital shopping-wise.

Not very inclusive of you.

Church is definitely not part of my culture, never has been.

I agree needs to go, was just talking about this today actually took the kids out then the play place finished would have been nice to nip in the shop after, but nope all closed! Mad to think this is even still a thing when most people aren’t religious anymore, feels really old fashioned.

On to Sunday trading, some people (Christian or otherwise) like to stay home with their families on Sunday, get things done on this day they don't have time for in the week, pursue hobbies or religious activities.

You could choose to do that even if shops were open.

No. It's our culture. Church day.

YANBU

I also find it odd that so many businesses, who rely on the custom of working people, choose to close on a Sunday. Hairdressers for example. If you want to get a cut and colour it can easily be a 3-4 hour appointment, and most people with money to spend on things like this work full time during the week. This leaves everyone trying to get a Saturday appointment, while the salon is dead during the week. It makes no sense. If you want to sell to people then be open when they are off work!

This grates on me so much. "Most people aren't Christian," Says who? You? The Daily Mail? The BBC? Your friends and peers, who aren't Christian, and to whom you decided means "most"?

There are a LOT of Christians in this country. One could go as far as to say "most people are Christian" but we don't tend to shout it from the rooftops for the Daily Mail to honestly report it for clicks.

On to Sunday trading, some people (Christian or otherwise) like to stay home with their families on Sunday, get things done on this day they don't have time for in the week, pursue hobbies or religious activities.

We have enough shops open on every other single day so Sunday should remain as it is for those who appreciate it. There are many who appreciate it.

Except it wouldn't though. Large retailers will likely have their full-time staff working Mon-Fri (with some split shifts if they open early/close late). Then, they'll have a different lot of staff (part-time/students etc) working only Saturday and Sunday and maybe one late night midweek. I reckon those staff would be grateful for the chance to earn more money on a Sunday. I know I would have back then.

Far better hours in Northern Ireland in my opinion, even though they’re allowed to be open for 1 hour less than in England and Wales. I’ve lived in parts of England and Wales where the shops are open 10-4 and I think that is a big part of the bugbear people who want Sunday trading restrictions to be abolished or relaxed further have the issue with.

I’m old enough to remember Sunday trading before 1994. Sundays were always a drag of a day and to an extent they still are. I’ve long thought it daft the rest of leisure and hospitality is open as usual but larger shops are shut. Times have changed considerably since the early 1990s. What we have is a compromise and a relic of a bygone era. It’s time to move on. The argument of spending more time with the family doesn’t stack up for those in other unaffected sectors who are working on Sundays; the many single people or those of us who prefer to spend as little time with their family as possible.

When the government relaxed the restrictions for the 2012 Olympics I took full advantage of shops being open for longer. I think at some point we will see Sunday trading relaxed further. The sooner the better.

Another vote for close them entirely. Sunday closing is one of the reasons I’d love to live in Germany.

hlskj

I’m job hunting for a non weekend job three years now. I worked in offices for years then had kids and after three kids had to leave. Now the jobs I did are pretty much gone and people don’t seem to want a 46 year old whose skills were word, excel and document management systems that are null and void. My jobs were extremely basic and my cv which I’ve changed over and over rarely warrants a reply let alone an interview. If I could earn more money and not work weekends I would.

‘Whenever’?
Shops opened between 8&9 and shut at around 5.
Half day closing on Wednesday.
Early closing on Saturday and not open at all on Sundays.
And you know what - no one died!

If shops have to be open then why not make it EVERYHWERE.
Offices, Factories, all NHS departments. Councils, civil servants, everything,
Apart from schools.
Kids still get weekends off.
See how many of you want it then when you don’t get a choice about which days you work and you never get two days off in a row. Same applies to bank holidays, especially Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. Needs of the business.

Disagree. In Spain, hardly any shops open in Sunday ... it's a family non-working day and zi think it's fabulous.

Who serves you your Sunday lunch out?

Does the hospitality staff having to work a Sunday to serve you, not deserve time off? Only the person scanning your bread deserves the time off, but not the person serving you it?

@SleepingisanArt it has relaxed somewhat since the 90s but there are still folk who won't put their washing out on Sundays. Bonkers but quite charming.

Is this just an English bashing post?
Since you live in Scotland and wouldn’t move here because ships are only open for 6 hrs on a Sunday - well, it’s none of your business really is it.
Wether you like it or not we are STILL a Christian country,
I would be annoyed if Sunday became like every other day. It would stop the joy of Sunday lunches in and out, families meeting up etc. The slowness of Sundays is what makes it special.
If you can’t get organised in order to do your Sunday shopping in a 6 hr window on the times you come to England then it’s your issue to sort. Not ours.

Why would it make shopping more expensive and make workers do more hours? Surely they’d employ extra staff ( people who juggle childcare Mon-Fri might appreciate the option for Sunday hours)

We tried it too and it ended up costing us money. Trust me, if there was any money in it, places would be open.

@RebelMoon - went there in the mid 90s - our hotel didn't serve food at all on Sunday! They did warn us and we bought pot noodles and sandwiches the day before. No restaurants open, no shops or cafés. No ferry. And the people we were visiting said nobody was allowed to mow their lawns either as Sunday was the day of rest. Found it bonkers but very peaceful compared to Glasgow where we lived at the time.

Personally I’d like to see everything shut on Sunday. I feel for retail staff who rarely get a weekend off.

If you insist that supermarkets are open 'proper' hours on a Sunday why doesn't it apply to offices? Why can I only phone the DWP Monday to Friday during limited hours? Why do banks (where there are branches) open later 'for staff training' once a week and aren't open in the evenings or on Sundays? Why is the vet closed at the weekend except for emergencies? Why is the local police station only manned a few days every month? Oh and what about politicians and councillors - definitely office hours Monday to Friday.......

But they would get an extra day off during the week instead. I used to work in a call centre and loved working Sundays because it meant I had a day off during the week to do stuff.

I considered training to be a nurse, but didn’t like that the shifts typically were not on set days per week, and would involve weekend work when I had children. So I chose a different career path, one that suited my needs.

If you don’t want to work weekends, don’t enter into a job that involves weekend work.

I’m saying this as someone who has worked weekends in offices, retail, hospitality and events management. Opening more days and hours allows more jobs, more shifts to become available, thus benefitting employers and potential employees.

Yep. The Tesco in Stornoway only started opening on Sundays in 2024. And there was a lot of opposition to it.

Emergency workers I know don't work every single weekend though.