Retail bosses have renewed calls for Sunday trading rules to be relaxed, arguing that allowing larger stores to open for longer could provide a welcome boost to the UK high street.
André Maeder, Chief Executive of Selfridges Group, has called for Sunday trading hours in England and Wales to be extended by two or three hours, saying the current restrictions limit retailers on one of the most important shopping days of the week.
Under the Sunday Trading Act 1994, large shops in England and Wales are permitted to trade for a maximum of six continuous hours between 10am and 6pm.
Speaking to The Sunday Times, Mr Maeder said even a relatively small extension could make a significant difference to retailers.
“I really think even two hours more would really help, because this is the day that everybody has time [to shop],” he said.
Selfridges’ Oxford Street flagship currently opens for browsing at 11.30am on Sundays, but customers cannot make purchases until midday. Mr Maeder said he would prefer the department store to be able to trade between 11am and 7pm.
“We open the store at 11.30am, but you can’t buy…it’s a little bit crazy,” he added.
His calls were backed by Ewan Venters, Executive Chairman of Paul Smith and former Chief Executive of Fortnum & Mason, who described the existing rules as “antiquated”.
Recalling busy Christmas trading at Fortnum & Mason, Mr Venters said customers could fill their trolleys before midday and staff could even scan their products, but payment could not be taken until the permitted trading period began.
Mr Venters also questioned whether the reasoning behind the original legislation still reflected the way people live and shop today.
The rules were partly designed to protect employees and smaller retailers from the impact of unrestricted Sunday opening by larger stores. However, smaller shops are exempt from the six-hour restriction, while Scotland does not impose the same limits on Sunday trading.
Mr Venters suggested there could now be a case for adopting a common approach to Sunday trading across the UK.
Mr Maeder also rejected suggestions that longer opening hours would necessarily put additional pressure on employees, saying Sunday shifts at Selfridges were popular among some members of staff and that employees were not forced to work them.
The intervention comes as retailers continue to face pressure from higher employment, energy and operating costs, alongside changing shopping habits and competition from online businesses.
Mr Maeder said footfall at Selfridges had increased for four consecutive years, with the department store increasingly positioning itself as an experiential destination through pop-ups, brand collaborations and hospitality.
Paul Smith, meanwhile, has been reducing its exposure to less profitable wholesale locations and focusing more heavily on direct-to-consumer sales.
Mr Venters said the fashion brand’s wholesale business was now around a third of its previous size, pointing to the closure of independent stockists following the pandemic and continued consolidation across the retail sector.
The latest comments are likely to reignite the long-running debate over whether England and Wales’ Sunday trading legislation remains appropriate more than three decades after it was introduced.
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