Sunday Trading Advice
Sunday Trading
Restrictions on opening times on Sundays are now confined to
‘large shops’ (defined under the Act as those having an internal
sales area of over 280sq.m). The critical consideration is the
floor area definition, which is clarified as meaning the part of
the shop within a building that is used for display of goods and
customer services.
It is no longer a requirement for ‘large shops’ to register their
opening hours with the Council. However, they are restricted to six
continuous hours of trading on a Sunday which must be between the
hours of 10am and 6pm.
Large shops are required to remain closed on Easter Sunday (and on
Christmas Day when it falls on a Sunday).
The Sunday Trading Act 1994 also includes specific measures to
protect the rights of shop workers who do not wish to work on
Sunday.
Apart from the restrictions mentioned above, it is left to
individual owners to determine their opening hours in the light of
customer demand.