To think Sunday trading hours is silly

[iguano88]

Everyone waiting at the self service and normal checkouts from 10:45, with full baskets and trolleys (shop was open for browsing but Sunday hours 11-5). Staff then opened all the tills at exactly 11 but not a minute before.

Why do we still only open large shops for 6 hours on a Sunday? 11 seems really late to open. There’s a blend of religions in society and more people need hours at work, Sunday evenings would suit students or parents who need to work opposing hours to their other half for childcare reasons. The more I think about it the sillier it is. I also think it adds to the ‘Sunday scaries’ people experience.

AIBU to think it should just be abolished and business as usual?

@HotChocolateNotCocoa But people are using the argument that its a 24/7 society now so surely that should apply to everything. I strongly suspect though that people only want to use that argument when its people in lower paid working class jobs they are demanding more from

My store got rid of the browsing time as just got customers coming in wanting to buy a newspaper. Kicked off about it. There are 2 newsagents, a petrol station and three other convenience shops within a 5 minute walk. Buy your paper from there and clear off!

I agree with short opening times on Sunday. I also think that shops should be closed on Boxing day.

Everything should close on a Sunday

We're a secular country

I don’t think all supermarket workers are on zero hour contracts at all? I work at Waitrose, we have scheduled shifts.

I work in retail and i dont recognise the idea of all these people queuing up to work extra hours on Sundays if they were available. Saturdays and Sundays are the most requested days off as ppl want to spend time with friends and family, go to events that always fall on weekends.
We do training on Sundays before or after trade and because of the "early" latest finish on a Sunday (7pm) our staff xmas party is always a Sunday to allow everyone the opportunity to attend.

No, there might be not many practicing people, but the UK is not a secular country. There are national - christian churches, the name anglicanism* is like big give away.
State schools are bond to promote British values - including christian traditions.
In general - it is not always true- monarchy equals national religion, republic equals secularism.

*while it refers to England rest of the UK also has own flavours of Christianity.

Why? What would people do?

Totally agree OP. By yhe same logic - Why do most non retail businesses close for weekends? It's ridiculous if you want a service like an IT consultant, local authority housing officer or recruiter and you literally cannot contact anyone until Monday. Weekends need to be abolished for ALL industries not just retail.

But the hospitality industry has run on this principle since its existence. Why aren’t you worried about the working class people in those roles?

Where did i say that i wasnt. I dont eat in restaurants at all let alone on Sundays and bank holidays

Closing shops increases the number of deliveries. I’m not convinced that it’s better that people use Amazon, Deliveroo etc instead.

Sunday hours are 9am till 9pm in Ireland

I agree that Sunday trading hours are pointless. I am not religious but would keep chain stores closed all day on Sundays. The public would still have six days to shop, or seven if online purchases are included.

In the North of Ireland opening Is 1pm on a Sunday. I was pleasantly surprised by 11am when studying in England.

I actually think I'd rather they were closed or 9-1pm rather than not opening to 1pm

I don't live in the UK and havent for 10 years. The shops where we lived and where we live now are open all day , every day. Normally malls open at 10am but 7-11s etc open earlier. Even on public and religious holidays they're open.

As far as I’m aware there’s nothing in law preventing GPs and walk-in surgeries opening any hours they choose

I totally agree.

I have very small children and especially in the winter, indoor places closing early on Sundays is annoying. I could do with an hour either side of the current opening hours to get my kids out of the house to do something fun. It would be handy if there were still more places like Wacky Warehouse to go to out eat.

I also lived in France where everything shuts on Sundays apart from the cinema. I totally get it can be a nice day to spend with family, but many of us don’t live near family and I still want to take my young children out.

Agree completely. I also don't understand why hair salons don't open Sunday's surely it would be a busy day for them!

When I worked in retail I hated working Sundays because of the stupid hours. If I'm going to get up, dressed and make my way to work I'd rather it be for a full shift than 6 meagre hours - complete waste of a day!

When I was a child, nothing opened on Sunday, Churches and Pubs - that was it

Pubs were allowed to open 12 - 2 and again 7 till 10:30

When I started in retail back in the 70's late night shopping was 2 nights a week - till 8pm. There was no fresh deliveries on Saturdays or Mondays so bread, veg, dairy etc would often be empty come mid morning. Shops would be mostly empty come Saturday afternoon , both of food and customers

Chippies didnt open on Mondays either as they never got their fish till Tuesday

Shops also used to close half day Wednesdays , early on Good Friday ( if they even opened ) and most certainly were closed Easter Monday

Im back working in hospitality now, in a restuaraunt in a store so only open for our Sunday Trading hours which are 1pm till 5pm. Legally we have the right to opt out of Sunday working - legally. In practice it means you are let go or not hired in the first place

Not everyone works flexi hours, most of those on this thread are probably working office hours - Monday to Friday. My husband, DC, DGC all work Mon to Friday so they want family days at the weekend. The only family days I can gaurentee are Christmas day and Easter Sunday.

Northern Ireland has some really weird trading. Sundays its 1-5pm, unless the store is in a tourist area then they can apply for an extension ( my place of work falls in to that catogory and will extend in the Summer ) . Its sister store, owned by the same family, does not open Sundays ever, in keeping with the rest of the town. Only the multi nationals open in the three towns near me, local owned business do not open Sundays . We still have shops and businesses that close 1-2 for lunch. Car showrooms and estate agents dont open at weekends either

When I first moved here I thought it was all pretty archaic but now I wouldnt think about spending a rare sunday off out shopping

I was an independant retailer, not food, when Sunday opening became legal. As well as the religious arguments, and the exploitation of workers argument, one other reason for tge restriction was for the protection of small retailers. If the shop is smaller than 1,000 sq feet the restrictions do not apply. The big supermarkets had already wiped out 1,000s of corner shops by the 90s, and unrestricted opening hours were feared to wipe out the rest. Since then, we have seen a massive growth of large retailers opening local stores, selling at higher prices than the big stores, but scooping up the scraps of sales going to independants.

So, you want the retail sector to revolve around your lifestyle and memory, @iguano88 ?
How arrogant
I think shops shoul return to half-day closing on Wednesday, full closure on Sunday as this is better suited to my lifestyle

I agree. Funnily enough those wanting shops open for longer hours don't actually have to work in them. If people can't be organised enough to shop during the hours the shops are open then I fear for the world.