John Hannett – Usdaw General Secretary says: “Indications so far suggest that some retailers have struggled over the Christmas period with sales in shops, most have cited unusually warm weather as the main problem. So it is very concerning to hear suggestions that longer opening is the answer.

“The last thing retail needs at the moment is a race to the bottom, with 24-hour opening 7 days a week. For large retailers Sunday is the most profitable day of the week simply because their hours are restricted. Increase Sunday trading hours and overheads will rise significantly, with no guarantee of more revenue through the tills.

“The race to open longer has been a folly and we are now seeing some larger retailers pulling back from 24-hour trading Monday to Saturday. Small retailers are currently free to open any hours they like and changing the law for large retailers will see small businesses lose that slight competitive advantage.

“If the Government and local councils are serious about helping high street retailers, particularly smaller enterprises, they should be addressing crucial issues like expensive rents for retail space, burdensome business rates and excessive parking charges that drive customers away from town centres to out-of-town retail outlets where parking tends to be free of charge.

“The Sunday Trading Act is a great British compromise, which has worked well for over 20 years and gives everyone a little bit of what they want. Retailers can trade, customers can shop, staff can work; whilst Sunday remains a special day, different to other days, and shopworkers can spend some time with their family.”

Notes for editors:

Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fourth biggest and the fastest growing trade union with over 440,000 members. Membership has increased by more than 17% in the last five years and by nearly a third in the last decade. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the Union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemicals and other trades.

For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter @UsdawUnion