Are we opening? No.

Deciding whether to open showrooms is a moral issue, not a business one. To encourage people to travel to see you, you risk perpetuating the reason we are all in lockdown in the first place, says Tony Robson from DayTrue

Why are we all desperate to follow in the footsteps of Wren?

One of the things I have most enjoyed about the lockdown are the industry debates that have been taking place on LinkedIn.

I am a huge believer that everyone can have their own opinion (although some of mine are me simply playing devil’s advocate) and be able to voice it, as long as it is done in a manner that is polite to all involved and unaggressive in its tone.  The discussions have been this way for most of the time, I’m pleased to say.

Not everyone has agreed on the wide-ranging topics, usually prompted by Andrew Davies’ questions, but we have certainly gained a widespread view of what the industry’s thoughts are on these strange days, clearly showing that there is a constant ambiguity and uncertainty in the situation we all face.

This, I suppose, is why I have an issue with whether or not to open our showroom doors to the public. Surely at some point the question of morality in this whole lockdown debate must be considered?

Let’s just get one thing straight, the browsing or purchasing of a premium kitchen is ‘non-essential’ in these times, I would hope that nobody would disagree with this.

The governments advice is clear – non-essential retail will not be able to open until June 1 at the earliest, so I don’t understand why we are searching for loopholes.

Of course, I appreciate that businesses will be struggling through this. My business, Day True, is definitely not out of the woods, although we have managed to keep a reasonable level of continuity in managing current and future projects.

But surely businesses can wait another three weeks if it means helping stop the spread of a disease that has killed over 30,000 people to date? There is not only the issue of morality but also of national support for those fighting that disease, or do we just stop clapping our hands on a Thursday evening now that we can get back to work and get some money in?

In opening your retail showroom at this time you are effectively encouraging the general public to visit you and you are encouraging your team to travel to work, some potentially by public transport, all of which has been discouraged by the government and still banned by our neighbouring countries.

So why would anyone think it is OK to find a loophole and put lives at risk for the sake of a couple of weeks?

Our current intention is simple, we plan to open in line with Government guidelines in early June and in the meantime we will continue to support our customers and staff safely from a distance.

But each to their own

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