Belfast Chamber welcomes date for more retailers to reopen

Belfast Chamber has welcomed the announcement that more retailers can reopen from this Friday.

Commenting, Belfast Chamber Chief Executive Simon Hamilton said, “This is really great news for all of those retailers in Belfast and right across our region who have been closed now for close to 3 months.  Belfast Chamber has been pressing the Executive to set a date for the safe reopening of the sector, so we wholeheartedly welcome today’s announcement as another huge step in the right direction and thank the Executive for listening to business.  Many retailers have been working hard over the last number of weeks to get their stores ready to reopen in ways that ensure staff and customer safety and it is great that many more will be able to implement those plans and get going again.

Retail as a sector has been one of the hardest hit by the restrictions introduced to stop the spread of COVID-19.  They closed down immediately when required and many have had no income whilst costs have continued.  Reopening will allow more retailers to start trading again after what has been a dark and difficult period for the sector”.