Region heading for a digital Christmas as High Street prepares for ‘devastating blow’

There is “no circumstance” in which any retail premises should have to close in a second national lockdown – that’s according to the chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, who says that East Midlands retailers should be allowed continue trading through the forthcoming month-long national lockdown.

Helen Dickinson has cited a recent Sage paper found that closing “non-essential” retail would have a minimal impact on the transmission of Covid. This, she says, is thanks to the hundreds of millions of pounds retailers have spent making their stores Covid-secure and safe for customers and colleagues.

Dickinson added: “The closure of any parts of retail would have a massive impact on the viability of thousands of shops and hundreds of thousands of jobs across the country. In April and May, ‘non-essential’ shops were losing £1.6 billion a week in lost sales; now that we are entering the Christmas shopping period, these losses are certain to be much bigger.

“The Government should consider very carefully any decision to close ‘non-essential’ retail. It will cause untold damage to the high streets this close to Christmas, cost countless jobs, and permanently set back the recovery of the wider economy, with only a minimal effect on the transmission of the virus.”

Scott Knowles, the chief executive of the East Midlands Chamber, said: “We are concerned about the lasting impact this lockdown could have on the high street and hospitality sector. Many businesses were just beginning to get back on their feet and gearing up for the beginning of the festive period to offset the losses incurred earlier in the year, but this month-long lockdown may be one setback too many.’

For others, the new rules will change the retail landscape irrevocably.

Richard Lim, CEO, Retail Economics said: “These new lockdown measures could not have come at a worse time for the retail industry. In particular, small retailers remain in survival mode and profits made during the festive period will determine whether they continue to trade into the New Year. It will be a devastating blow to the industry.

“There’s no doubt that this will be a digital Christmas. The shift towards online will be of epic proportions but there are serious doubts over whether the industry has the capacity to cope. There will be a strain on websites, warehouses and, crucially, delivery networks. Put simply, the industry just isn’t set up for such a colossal switch to online and many retailers will not be able to cope which will ultimately leave consumers frustrated.

“We’ll see a huge polarisation in sales performance with retailers who have invested in their online operations significantly over the last few years benefiting from the shift.”