The majority of the UK will grind to a halt on Bank Holiday Monday as the nation marks Queen Elizabeth II's funeral. Many supermarkets and shops have already announced they will close on Monday, September 19.
And while the Government released guidance, companies have "no obligation to suspend business" during the national mourning period. Businesses can close at their own discretion and "may wish to consider closing or postponing events, especially on the day of the state funeral".
However, other businesses will remain open to help shoppers grab their essentials and run those all-important errands. But it can be confusing to work out what will be open and what will be closed so here's a list of businesses and services that will continue running on the day of the Queen’s funeral.
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Supermarkets
The Mirror reports that while most supermarkets, including Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Aldi and Lidl, have confirmed their plans to close for the day, there will be some exceptions.
Tesco Express stores will be open in the evenings from 5pm, and a small number of Express stores in Central London and Windsor will remain open throughout the day to help those attending the funeral get what they need.
Tesco UK’s Chief Executive Jason Tarry said that all of Tesco's large stores will be closed for the day, adding: "We want to express our deepest condolences to the Royal Family, as well as our gratitude to Her Majesty The Queen for her unwavering service."
A "very limited number" of Waitrose stores may also open on the route of the funeral procession in Central London to serve attending members of the public - but these stores will close for the funeral itself.
And while Marks & Spencer is set to close all of its stores and put its delivery services on hold, some stores in the capital will stay open for mourners to grab essentials if needed.
Asda and Morrisons are expected to close their stores altogether or reduce opening hours. It is thought that large supermarkets will close for four hours, roughly between 10am and 2pm.
But the supermarkets' smaller convenience stores will stay open to help crowds gathering to watch the funeral grab water and food for the day.
Co-op stores will only stay closed until 5pm, with the exception of some stores in central London and towards Windsor. These stores will remain open during the day to serve crowds attending the funeral. Co-ops ecomm orders and delivery services will also resume at 5pm.
Pubs
Dedicated pub-goers will be pleased to hear that pubs are likely to stay open on the day of the Queen’s funeral.
Fullers Group - which has 400 pubs across the country - have announced that it expects all of its pubs to remain open on Monday.
A spokesperson for Fullers said: "We anticipate that Fullers pubs will be opening on the day of the funeral to provide a place for people to come together and pay their respects."
Shopping centres and retailers
Retailers across the country are set to close their stores next Monday as a mark of respect for the Queen, however, some shopping centres will stay open.
Westfield London and Westfield Stratford are likely to stay open, but a number of shops within them will close for the day, depending on what individual retailers decide to do.
Post Office
Royal Mail will suspend its services on the day of the funeral, but at the Post Office, services will vary. Of the Post Office’s 11,500 branches, 114 of them are Crown Post Offices run directly by the Post Office. Those 114 branches will be closed for the day.
But roughly 2,500 branches are run by a number of retailers like WH Smith, Tesco, Co-Op, Spar, and these businesses, although likely to close, will decide on their plans.
A Post Office spokesperson said: "The rest of our network of branches are operated by independent postmasters and typically are located in convenience stores. It will be the postmaster's decision whether to open on the day.
"On weekends, we usually have around 4,000 branches open and would normally expect a similar number to be open on a regular bank holiday.
"However, it may be that some independent postmasters, who would normally open their branch on a bank holiday, decide to close their branch on 19 September to mark the passing of Her Majesty."
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