to think supermarkets should open longer on Sundays?

[ThisPlumCrab]

By late Sunday morning my local supermarket is like a rugby scrum with trolleys. The car park is jammed, people are queueing before they even get inside, and once you are in the aisles it feels like an obstacle course just to reach the milk. It is easily the busiest day of the week here, yet we still have the six hour Sunday trading limit.

Because of Sunday trading laws, the big shops in England and Wales can only open for six hours. In practice that means everyone piles in at the same time. Late morning is rammed, early afternoon is even worse, and by the afternoon the place looks like a plague of locusts has been through, with only artichokes and beetroot left.

In Scotland there are no Sunday trading laws for large shops, so they can open as long as they like, and life seems to carry on perfectly fine.

If supermarkets here could open longer, like on a normal day, people could spread out their shopping and the whole thing would be calmer. Families who spend Saturday at kids sports or activities, and workers who do shifts at the weekend, would have more choice than the current six hour window. Smaller express or local stores are open all day anyway, but they are pricier and do not stock everything, so you end up doing several little shops.

I know the main argument for the current rules is that Sundays should be for people to spend time with their families. But not everyone lives in a family setup, and many people, especially students, part timers, and those looking for extra income, actually prefer to work on Sundays. For some, it is the best day to pick up extra hours without clashing with other commitments.

I just do not see how the current system helps when Sundays are already the busiest.

Agree. I lived in Germany and Austria for 13 years, no Sunday opening and when I first moved to Germany shops only opened on a Saturday afternoon on the first Saturday of the month.

Tbf
Thats what a lot of people were used to
I grew up when nothing was open except for churches, the local newspaper shop and a pharmacy

It’s what some people still remember. Then of course other countries still do the same now

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Agree @Venalopolos
it was rather magical and peaceful walking around on a Sunday with nothing open

You must be incredibly old if you grew up in a time before pubs were open on a Sunday.

My family didn’t drink so I wouldn’t know tbf

I remember as a student pubs were only open at certain hours on a Sunday
Limited licensing laws
Just looked it up and it appears these were revoked in 1988

Of course you can’t get the pubs delivered to your door, as I’ve mentioned before.

What about the poor pub staff working on a Sunday?

Everyone deserves time off but a Sunday is the most illogical day.

Most people have 2 days when they are not at work and one of those days, everything is shut or only open for short hours.

If the shops shut on a weekday, then retail staff would get the same number of days off and all of us office monkeys would get a bit longer to do all the jobs that need doing.

The threads about supermarkets

Lots of stuff opens on Sundays unfortunately. I have a right to my own opinions and so do you.

Personally I’d like a day a week without cars, noise and pollution

Look at how pollution levels go down when everything’s closed. A day for humans and the planet to recharge.

luckily I live in the country now

Why can’t people plan their shopping better or get deliveries. If I had my way no shops would be open on Sundays so everyone had a rest.

Exactly

People had to be organised in the past with half Wednesday shopping aswell
Its not difficult

It isnt. Public transport is worst that day, schools aren't open, and its harder to get private childcare or adult day care sessions that day. The structural barriers to work are highest on Sundays. And most of these sectors already have recruitment problems, so spreading existing provision over 7 days wouldn't be an option.

Yes I think there should be normal opening hours if they think it's worth it. I can't see why retail workers are any more deserving of the hallowed family time than people who have to work in cafes or at leisure parks or in leisure centres or anywhere else that is open on a Sunday, not to mention AA/RAC patrols and medical people.

I also think towns and cities would be less dead and boring on Sundays if shops were open later. Nothing more boring than a town centre after 4pm on a winter Sunday. It would also be safer, too - more people around.

I suspect a lot of shops would remain closed or keep the shorter opening hours because it simply isn't worth being open longer or at all, but that should be their decision to make.

The one thing I would stipulate if they were given that freedom would be that they had to offer set shifts like they were perfectly able to years ago and stop all this nonsensical week to week zero hours stuff.

And no I don't have to work on a Sunday so I am being hypocritical!

It's because the SNP voted against the laws being relaxed (obviously other MPs did as well, but if the SNP had abstained, as they normally did on English-only matters, the changes would have happened).

I think it might have been when David Cameron was PM.

Yes Sunday trading hours need a review in my opinion. The world has just changed too much since they came in.
I would actually rather go back to Wednesday early closing for shops so staff can have some down time, if they were then open a full day on Sunday!

Good point but it's not really about the supermarkets for me, it's about town centre shops and the deadness and bleakness of a town centre on a winter afternoon after 4pm. Saturdays are so much better because the shops are open a bit later.

Also, although other countries' shops are closed on a Sunday, they are open later on a Saturday than here so it's swings and roundabouts.

What is this hallowed family time of which you speak?

Most people do DIY, homework, catch up on housework, and yes, do shopping on a Sunday.

They may visit family on occasion but that presupposes that they have a family.

They get time off, they don't work 7 days a week! And if they do it's because they want to, to earn money. Being open on a Sunday gives teens and students a chance to earn money as well.

Very good point about public transport and childcare. Probably can't do much about childcare, but better public transport on Sundays is sorely needed.

But not everyone wants to rest! I used to work in retail and always enjoyed working on a Sunday. It was a quieter day than Saturday which used to be heaving. Monday was always a ‘dead’ day, so our boss shut up shop on Mondays, it felt a bit ‘naughty’ not working when nearly everyone else was! It also meant places were quieter so I could take mum out for a quieter coffee before her dementia got too bad.
I now do a very different job, I work 6days a week (self employed) so Sunday is my only free day. Yes I could go to the supermarket in the evening after work, but to be honest, by the end of the day, I’m spent and just want to get home to my kids, have a light bite and get into bed. I’m glad supermarkets are open on a Sunday, as it means I can spend more time with my kids on weekday evenings, and on a Sunday it means as a family we can nip to the supermarket after a day out, although out day out is somewhat curtailed by the 4pm curfew😂.
The beauty of living in a democracy is if you don’t want to go shopping on a Sunday you don’t have to, but if you do, you can. Most people have to work 5days a week, providing your employer gives you two days off, I’m not sure it matters and if it does matter to you, look at a job with Monday - Friday hours.
for some of us having an excuse not to see extended family due to work is a bonus!

Thanks. My guess is we'd have to pay a fair bit more for better Sunday transport, as there's already a bus driver shortage. Which obviously wouldn't address the structural issue, especially not for low paid workers.

The on demand grocery orders (deliveroo etc)on a Sunday evening are crazy in my store. Those carry on until 10.30pm. Our store has reduced hours Mon-Sat compared to when I started working there 3 years ago. Staff hours have been reduced.

I'm not sure if the legal position changed on Sunday trading that my store would open full hours tbh. We have 1 fewer delivery on a Sunday vs the rest of the week. I'm not sure the figures would stack up (more distribution centre staff, more lorries and drivers on a Sunday) as well as store staff 🤔

I’m wondering why you go on a Sunday if it’s so bad

What about if I work 11-5 and usually do my food shop at 10am?

But not everyone wants to rest! I used to work in retail and always enjoyed working on a Sunday. It was a quieter day than Saturday which used to be heaving.

But was it not a quieter day because most people did want to rest?!