A to Z of services

Following the introduction of the Sunday Trading Act in 1994 there have been no restrictions on shopping hours - apart from on Sundays. All shops are now able to open without restriction between Monday and Saturday.

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.