Thousands
of employees will be at work on Christmas Day when a handful of the UK ‘s
largest retailers open for business as usual.
Sainsbury’s,
Budgens, Safeway and Woolworths all aim to take advantage of the fact that it
is not yet illegal to open on 25 December, although a Bill to prevent large
shops opening on Christmas day has won House of Lords’ approval.
Safeway
will open 51 smaller shops on Christmas Day at sites shared with BP service
stations. Product ranges will be extended to include turkeys and alcohol.
Budgens
is opening 110 stores, with 72 of them trading 24 hours throughout the festive
period.
Woolworths
is opening four city-centre stores, while Sainsbury’s is opening six of its
smaller stores within Shell petrol stations, reports the Daily Mail.
By
Paul Nelson
