“Online retail is still open and encouraged” Gov Advice 23/03/2020

On 23rd March the British Government stepped up measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus and save lives, announcing that non-essential premises must now close. In the documents released by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government following the Prime Ministers televised address to the nation, we would like to highlight the following, which will be of interest to some of our customers.

Takeaways, delivery services, restaurants, cafes, and pubs

Takeaway and delivery services may remain open and operational in line with guidance issued on Friday 20 March. Planning regulation will be changed to enable restaurants, cafes, and pubs which do not currently offer delivery and hot food takeaway to do so. The Government will release advice on when these planning regulation changes are in effect.

Online retailers, eCommerce, and digital mail-order

The Government documents, released following the Prime Ministers televised address of the evening of the 23rd March 2020 included the statement that “Online retail is still open and encouraged and postal and delivery service will run as normal.” this is of course great news for eCommerce retailers of all sizes, and a lot of our customers, who are self-employed online retailers will be breathing a collective sigh of relief at seeing this.

The full statement and list of premises and businesses that the government are now closing

We’ve highlighted the positive aspects of the Government advice in this post, for the full information, in PDF format please visit this page on GOV.UK

For advice on your specific case we would suggest either (a) contacting a solicitor and asking them, (b) contacting your local MP, or (c) asking the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government who issued the advice on 030 3444 0000.