Retailers

Latest updates for our Retailers

On the 4th January, a new national lockdown was announced. Stores classed as food retailers, corner shops, newsagents and off-licenses should remain open. If you are a food retailer, corner shop, newsagents or off-license, you have been identified as providing a key service. Now we're in the winter months, vulnerable people within your community need you more than ever so that they can continue to pay their bills and top up their gas and electricity.

Face-coverings are now mandatory in all shops across England, Wales and Scotland. This applies to both retailers and customers and is considered a legal requirement. Failure to comply could result in fines of up to £10,000.

Here is some guidance:

Ensure that all staff members wear a mask when they are on the shop floor unless they are medically exempt from doing so.
Display signage at the entrance to the store and other points as needed in the store to remind customers of this policy.
Explain to customers, if challenged, why you have adopted this policy that it is to keep others safe and limits the transmission of Covid-19.
You can ask customers to temporarily remove their face coverings in the event that you have to identify someone against proof of age card for selling age-restricted products.
Explain but do not seek to enforce your face coverings policy if customers become aggressive or are not willing to follow this policy. In an emergency, call 999.
To report incidents of abuse, intimidation or violence, call 101 and collect information: recorded images, details of the crime, and details of the perpetrator.

Essential retail stores that remain open must operate with social distancing and hygiene measures in place to protect staff, customers and the community.

Retailers should consider vulnerable people who are shielding as they will still need to pay bills and top-up cards. Additional services that retailers have been offering during the peak of the pandemic will still provide a lifeline to many as we approach the winter months.

What to do if your bank is operating on reduced hours?

If you're struggling to get to the bank because they've reduced their opening hours, remember that you can also do your banking with the Post Office.

The Post Office can accept all payments for a vast majority of banks and they are are still open as they have been identified as a key service.

You can find your nearest Post Office and take a look at their opening hours by using their Branch Finder.

In the meantime, we’d advise you to follow the guidelines given by the NHS and Public Health England in relation to maintaining hygiene standards in your store.

Is your store re-opening?

If you’ve re-opened your store, please get in touch by calling us on 01606 566 566 or email us at tellus@pzbp.co.uk.

This is so we can update our store locator and let your customers know that you’re back open for business.

Equally, if you have to close your store due to coronavirus, even if it’s just a temporary measure, then let us know.

That way, customers can see you are closed and find another store nearby. It may also be useful to hang a notice in the window for customers who cannot access the internet.

You can find a ‘sorry we are closed’ sign in our downloadable resources section below. When your store has reopened, let us know and we will add it back to the Store Locator.

SHOPSAFE...with Payzone

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, many of you have told us that you’ve been struggling to find affordable PPE equipment. We are pleased to announce that you can now buy PPE bundles straight from SHOPSAFE...with Payzone.

SHOPSAFE...with Payzone is a new online shop that we will be launching over the coming weeks. Our website isn’t up and running yet but you can still place your order by calling our Helpdesk on 01606 566 566.

We hope that our new service will help to keep you, your staff members and your customers safe.

Find out more about the PPE equipment we have available by reading our blog.