The British Independent Retailers Association (Bira) is supporting the government’s decision to re-introduce face coverings.
Bira’s CEO Andrew Goodacre said: “We support the wearing of face coverings in shops in England and we are pleased that a decision has been made to keep everyone safe and stop the spread of this new variant.
“Our members are now well used to these measures and we now have time to implement them again. Fortunately indie retailers followed our advice and left measures such as Perspex screens in place. We now hope that the general public will be as responsible as the shop owners and staff, and wear face coverings without any objections.”