Primark has said it wants to reopen all of its stores in England from the middle of next month, as the coronavirus lockdown eases.

The company’s owner, Associated British Foods (ABF), is working to open the doors of all its 153 stores in England on June 15. The international chain added that it expects to have reopened 281 of its stores by that date, having already reopened 112 of its sites across mainland Europe.

The discount retailer said it is waiting on further guidance over its branches in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales – but anticipates openings in ‘late June’. In England, Primark shops will reopen with new measures in place to help stop the spread of Covid-19. 

It comes after the Government gave non-essential retailers the green light to welcome back customers in England again.

ABF shut all its Primark stores in March as the coronavirus crisis escalated, which it said resulted in a loss of around £650 million for every month that all stores were closed.

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It said that it cut more than 50% off overheads at Primark in a bid to stabilise its finances during the pandemic.

In a statement, the company explained: ‘As European governments have begun to ease restrictions on clothing retailing we have been able to reopen stores.

‘Safety has been our highest priority in our detailed preparations to welcome our customers and employees back to stores. We are following government safety advice in all markets.’

The move follows similar announcements from other high street shops, including John Lewis. Outdoor markets and car dealerships can open from today.

Primark’s statement continued: ‘Importantly, we will apply the valuable experience gained from more than 100 stores which are already open as we open the remainder of our estate, including stores across the UK.

‘Social distancing protocols, hand sanitiser stations, perspex screens at tills and additional cleaning of high frequency touch points in the store are among the measures we are implementing.’

The retailer said trading has been ‘reassuring and encouraging’ in its recently reopened stores, with queues outside most sites.

Nevertheless, it said cumulative like-for-like sales since reopening have been lower than the same period last year.

The firm added that ‘as long as social distancing is required, we expect it to restrict the capacity of our busiest stores from achieving their aggregate pre-Covid-19 sales.’

Meanwhile, ABF said operating profits in its grocery business will be ahead of forecasts after ‘stronger sales’ of branded products, although profits in its sugar arm are predicted to slip.

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