English KBB showrooms can reopen on April 12

From April 12, all retail in England will be allowed to reopen, which will include KBB showrooms.

With KBB showrooms classed by the English Government as ‘non-essential’, they were forced to close in England on January 5.

The new roadmap out of lockdown and easing restrictions was set out on February 23. There were several criteria that had to be achieved before moving on to the next step in reopening the country, such as the number of vaccinations given and the rolling infection rate.

Step Two of the plan was confirmed to go ahead on Easter Monday and will see all retail allowed to open again.

In a speech on Easter Monday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “I want to thank you all again for your patience, because it is really clear now that this is paying off. And it’s your collective efforts, our collective efforts, that have given us that crucial time and space to vaccinate more than 31 million people.

“The net result of your efforts and the vaccine roll-out is that I can today confirm that from Monday 12th April, we will move to Step Two of our roadmap – reopening shops, gyms, zoos, holiday campsites, personal care services like hairdressers and, of course, beer gardens and outdoor hospitality of all kinds.”

Social distancing measures will be in place in shops and any indoor areas, including wearing face coverings and keeping two metres a part at all times.

Domestic refurbishment and construction installation work had always been allowed to continue during this most recent lockdown.

As a way to help KBB showrooms who had to close during the lockdown kbbreview, in conjunction with the Kitchen Bathroom Bedroom Specialists Association (KBSA), launched the Level Playing Field Campaign.

The campaign called for independent retailers to contact their local MP and Trading Standards, using the templated letters provided, to demand equality with the larger retailers.

As the regulations around KBB showrooms were often unclear, kbbreview and the KBSA have been separately asking for specific details on the classification of KBB showrooms from Trading Standards and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

You can listen to the latest episode of The kbbreview Podcast by using the player below or by searching ‘kbbreview’ in a podcast app such as Apple Podcasts.

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