Shoppers queue outside non-essential shops from 7am as lockdown ends

Retailers hoping to reverse billions in sales lost during enforced closure

People queue up waiting for the Debenhams department store, which is expected to close down, in London’s Oxford Street (AP)

Shoppers began queueing early on Wednesday as thousands of shops re-opened after the end of England’s second coronavirus lockdown.

In its place, much of England is under tiers 2 and 3 of the new Covid-19 restrictions which limit social contact between households, but allow non-essential shops to conduct business.

Lines reportedly formed outside stores including Primark on London’s Oxford Street, while managers at the Westfield shopping centre in Stratford warned that people might be turned away and asked to come back later if the venue became crowded.

A report from Birmingham Live showed a large group of people queueing outside Primark before it opened at 7am on Wednesday. The cut-price chain has reopened its 153 stores with longer shopping hours, while 11 stores will trade through the night, into Thursday.

The Manchester Evening News reported that a queue had formed outside a Game shop well before opening time, and that Covid-19 marshals had had to organise people outside Footlocker.

Lines also formed outside Debenhams in Basingstoke and London long before the shops opened, but it was online that the department store experienced a surge in demand. On Tuesday evening visits leapt “to unprecedented levels” and bosses urged customers to be patient.

Some 25,000 jobs at Debenhams and the Arcadia group hang in the balance. Some 13,000 staff at Sir Philip Green's conglomerate face an anxious wait following its collapse into administration, and Debenhams, which is already in administration and has 12,000 workers, said it would start a liquidation process after JD Sports confirmed it had pulled out of a possible rescue.

Debenhams said it would continue to trade through its 124 UK stores and online to clear its current and contracted stocks, while the Arcadia Group, which includes brands such as Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Burton, also said stores would continue to trade.

Wednesday’s mass re-opening came as Bonmarche collapsed into administration for the second time in a year, putting a further 1,500 high street jobs at risk.

Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said: "Thousands of retailers are looking forward to welcoming back customers.

"Safety remains the biggest priority for retailers, who have spent hundreds of millions to make stores Covid-secure.

"With billions in sales lost during lockdown, stores are looking to offer a safe and enjoyable shopping experience to bring back customers.

"Christmas is around the corner so everyone has a reason to be visiting their local shops.

"Every purchase we make is a retailer helped, a job protected and a local community supported."

Additional reporting by Press Association