Why does the UK close so early?

vikingaero

marvin wrote: »

Town centres dead at 6pm

Town Centres are often dead because of Council fixations with pedestrian zones. Look at any identikit Town Centre and it will often be pedestrianised and deserted after 6pm. When you remove cars and place barriers it's no wonder. There are many parts of London where streetlif is thriving at night as well as during the day because cars are still allowed to mix.

vikingaero

marvin wrote: »

Phillip Dalton in todays Telegraph, businesses adapt or die.

If 98% of your trade comes in during the day and you are making a decent living then why would you need to adapt and work longer hours to service the 2%?

Sharon87

Sainsburys where I use to live is open 12-6, as well as Oxford Street and Westfield I believe are open at these times too. London is a bit different I guess.

But there are also Sainsburys Locals that close at 11pm on Sundays as they are 'convenience shops' so have different trading laws than Supermarkets.

atarisrocks

i cant see the point of longer opening.

i have worked in clothing retail various shift all round the clock. no one comes shopping at 5-6am and the only people we get shopping after 9pm are usually drunk or shoplifter.
it more hassle and profits are not high enough to make it worth it.

most shops round here close at around 8pm and open again any time between 7am-9am. i cant see people having such busy lives they cant do their shopping in the 11-13 hours the shops are open for or on their days off.

olly300

atarisrocks wrote: »

i cant see the point of longer opening.

i have worked in clothing retail various shift all round the clock. no one comes shopping at 5-6am and the only people we get shopping after 9pm are usually drunk or shoplifter.
it more hassle and profits are not high enough to make it worth it.

most shops round here close at around 8pm and open again any time between 7am-9am. i cant see people having such busy lives they cant do their shopping in the 11-13 hours the shops are open for or on their days off.

I don't want longer opening I want better opening times.

When I lived in Iceland and here in areas with lots of Asian store owners, the shops open the earliest at 10.30am and close at about 7pm. Though this may be later if the opening time is later.

Very few people shop before 10.30am in the morning in the UK for clothes, electrical items etc. When I go into such a shop before 10.30am in various parts of London outside the West end, very often I'm the only person in the shop apart from the shop assistants.

However if I enter a shop at 5.20pm I am not and the shop assistant(s) are busy trying to chuck everyone out.

In regards to museums if they know they are going to get a coach load of tourists in advance who may arrive late, then may be they should stay open a little longer particularly if they have a shop.

marvin

olly300 wrote: »

I don't want longer opening I want better opening times.
.

Partly what I was saying not more but different a move away from 9-5 to say midday to 8 or 9.

But this is not just shops it is a rethink of the whole of how we do things.

People who want to work 9-5 have plenty of places to work 9-5 and should seek careers in these places but the service industries (and remember I do work in the service industry) should surely be run for the people they service and not the people that run them?

stephen77

I want to go and do my weekly shop down my high street right now.

its all closed, how unhelpful to be closed at 11:00pm on 25th of Decemeber.
who is with me that it should be open.
Think just about every one else off work thus loads of people can go out to shop!

starryshell

I find it interesting that people suggest that since public transport is not operating today that people should take a taxi instead.

They believe that public transport workers should not have to work today, it is a holiday. Um, what about taxi drivers? Shouldn't they get the day off today, since it is the sacrosanct holiday?

System

starryshell wrote: »

I find it interesting that people suggest that since public transport is not operating today that people should take a taxi instead.

They believe that public transport workers should not have to work today, it is a holiday. Um, what about taxi drivers? Shouldn't they get the day off today, since it is the sacrosanct holiday?

I would guess most taxi drivers work voluntarily on Xmas day. A large proportion are self employed who just pay for the radio rental from a local firm who passes work over.

I would guess its at least double meter rate today and there's probably quite a bit if business going on.

Also on a side note all taxi firms around me are Muslim so Xmas day is a less important holiday day. Getting a cab on eid though it a nightmare!

Altarf

phill99 wrote: »

If a consumer only has £100 a week to spend in the shops, he doesn't suddenly have £120 a week to spend just because the shops are open longer.

But the point that you are missing, is that the consumer is spending their £100 in the shop that is open at the time that they can spend it, and are not spending it in the shop that is closed.