'A chink of hope' as bookshops in England prepare to re-open in April

Bookshops have expressed "cautious optimism" at the news that those in England can expect to re-open from 12th April, according to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's new roadmap for easing coronavirus restrictions, announced on Monday (22nd February).

According to the briefing, the re-opening of “non-essential” stores will occur in two months time, as part of later stage in a phased strategy by the government. The first phase of easing will see children return to school from 8th March, and organised adult and children’s sport permitted. People will also be able to meet a friend outside for recreational activity, such as a coffee or picnic. From 29th March, the number of people who can meet outdoors will increase, stretching to six from different households, to coincide with the Easter school holidays. People will still be advised to work from home when they can. From 29th March, outdoor gatherings of either six people or two households will be allowed. Outdoor sports will be allowed to resume.

Meanwhile in phase two, beginning on 12th April, shops, hairdressers, gyms and outdoor hospitality will re-open.

A cautious approach means conditions must be met for each stage, including that the vaccine roll-out is still going to plan, infections are under control, and that the assessment of the risks is not changed by new deadly variants, before proceeding. The PM said there will be "at least" five weeks between each of the four steps, which will end with all legal restrictions to mixing removed from 21st June.

Johnson said he hopes that every adult will receive the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine by July, and that he plans to end lockdown "cautiously but irreversibly".

The Booksellers Association intends to prepare a re-opening social media campaign, and re-issuing the shop safety kits which were delivered to shops last summer, to ensure bookshops have fresh signage and floor stickers for customers returning to shops. Meryl Halls, m.d at the BA, said: “We are pleased to have a date to aim for for the re-opening of bookshops in England, however distant April might still feel to us in February. With the falling death and hospitalisation numbers, and the increasingly heartening news about vaccination efficacy, it feels like booksellers can let themselves see a little chink of hope."

Halls added: "We will also, of course, be seeking clarity on the government guidance and support available to our members, of whatever size - and sharing that with booksellers. The BA will shortly be announcing a recovery project for bookshops to help them through this - hopefully - final re-opening, and we know that our members, resilient and robust as they are, will embrace the return to the high street, and to safely re-opening their bookshops and reinforcing their importance to the books ecosystem."

Layla Hudson, director of Round Table Books, is "cautiously optimistic" about reopening, but intends to delay until her team are confident their community is safe.

"When we had to open for the last lockdown, we did thing a bit later than every other bookshop, purely because our community is a bit more vulnerable, mainly Black, Minority Ethnic - so more vulnerable to Covid anyway, so we want to make sure our community is safe before anything happens," she told The Bookseller.

"We're taking things very cautiously now, based on the data that's already existing from previous lockdown, so we are keeping an eye on things - maybe thinking about opening towards the end of April, beginning of May, depending on how things go with the schools opening in March. We need to make sure our staff are as safe as possible before we start going back in. We will be keeping an eye on the situation before we jump the gun."

Nic Bottomley, owner of Mr B's Emporium, said it was important to exercise caution to prevent further lockdowns. He said: "having a date to work towards quite a way out is a really good thing - would I like it to be sooner, of course we'd love it from the perspective of being keen to normalise, but I don't think anyone wants to rush out of this lockdown, into another one."

"It's refreshing to a degree that this time the government have given credit to the public and business owners for being able to understand the concept of a date that is contingent on something. We will start planning for [reopening], but there are a few more weeks of lockdown trading before that."

Blackwells' c.e.o David Prescott and Waterstones c.o.o. Kate Skipper are keen to get booksellers back in the shops as soon as is safely possible. "We’re obviously really pleased that we have a potential date to work towards for shops re-opening," Prescott said. "By April, many of our booksellers will have practically been in lockdown for a whole year, so the sooner we can get everybody back safely in our shops, both staff and customers, the better for everybody."

Skipper added: "We are very much looking forward to reopening our bookshops as soon as it is safe to do so and are pleased that the government has announced a clear lockdown exit route for all our English shops. For customers, as well as from a logistical perspective, it is helpful to have one set of restrictions for the whole of England rather than navigating through a complex patchwork of different tier restrictions across the country. Clearly we all hope that this will be the last need for a lockdown and if the lifting of restrictions are kept in-step with the cheering vaccination-rates then there is much cause for optimism."

In Scotland, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is expected to outline the country's lockdown strategy in the next few weeks. For Wales, First Minister Mark Drakeford has said an order to stay at home could end in three weeks with the possibility that some non-essential shops could reopen then. Northern Ireland's restrictions will not be reviewed until 18th March.