w/c 8 June 2020
The countdown is truly on. In a few more days many of our Southend businesses will be reopening their doors and welcoming you safely back into their stores after many months of closures.
And what will Southend and the stores look like? There will be a “keep left” system in place in the high street encouraging visitors to walk along one side and only walk to the other if they are to join a queue or visit a store. Stores will have entry and exit doors, and one way systems to avoid customers crossing paths unnecessarily. You will see “Welcome Hosts” offering information, advice and hand sanitisation. Businesses will have access to branded “Queue Here” stickers, shop capacity posters and more so you will notice consistent messaging throughout the town whether you’re in the shops or streets.
We’re confident of the plans that have been put in place to keep you safe when you visit town, and if something needs to be tweaked? Then the stakeholder group for reopening has been working in a very fast and flexible way which will prove beneficial if it’s deemed necessary to make any adjustments to the plans come the 15th June.
Centre for Cities published data this week regarding how cities and large towns are faring as we move into the recovery stage post lockdown measures. Using anonymised mobile phone data to understand the level of activities in towns, the list has been created to indicate how quickly places are returning to previous activity levels and Southend comes in second place behind Aldershot. This is a really positive result for our town as so many businesses have suffered a very difficult few months, and many will continue to do so. These results show that people will be willing to come back into town to support our businesses that desperately need everyone to shop local for the foreseeable future. Thankfully traders have strictly adhered to the Government safety and social distancing guidance so you can also be assured that when you do venture into the high street then measures are in place to make sure you shop safe.
From the 15th June all non-essential retail will be allowed to open and we ask you all to Shop Local, Shop Safe.
- Suzanne Gloyne
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