Confident M&S to give staff extra holiday on Boxing Day

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Aug 24, 2021

Following good news for Marks & Spencer management (and its shareholders) last week, there’s now upbeat news for its 70,000 staff this week too.

The getting-back-to-form UK retailer, which delivered stronger sales and the promise of a boost in earnings in its latest trading update, wants to give its staff Boxing Day off this year to let them spend more time with their families over the Christmas period.

M&S will now shut all its 1,000 UK and Ireland stores on December 26, along with its customer support centres and its main Castle Donington warehouse.

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Chief executive Steve Rowe wrote to staff late last week to inform them of the move. He said: “Up and down the country, our colleagues have been there for our customers in the most challenging of circumstances.

"As a small thank you for their incredible hard work, we’ve taken the decision to close our operations on Boxing Day once again this year, to enable our colleagues to spend more time with their family and loved ones.”

It marks the second year the retailer has closed stores on Boxing Day, following a last-minute decision in 2020 after a “uniquely challenging year".

Over the Christmas period, it will be opening most of its stores for longer and, on Christmas Eve, some of the sites will be open until 8pm. 

It comes after a similar move from UK supermarket chain Morrisons, which earlier this month announced it would be keeping its stores closed for Boxing Day. 

Normally, December 26 is one of the busiest days in the retail calendar, marking the launch of the post-Christmas sales. Before the pandemic, shoppers were spending around £3.3 billion in stores on that day alone.