Michala Lafferty, Usdaw Area Organiser, and Glyn Roberts, Retail NI Chief Executive, said: “This is a welcome development which will enable all the key partners from trade unions, retail, Belfast Chamber of Commerce, hospitality and Belfast City Council to agree a broader strategy to grow the weekend economy of Belfast

“We are committed to seeing Belfast becoming a truly global city with a competitive retail and hospitality offer to shoppers and tourists. Both our organisations want to see a comprehensive deal which works for workers, retailers of all sizes and our hospitality and tourism sectors.

“This ‘summit’ should be convened sooner rather than later and we look forward to positively engaging on a new way forward for Belfast.”

Paddy Lillis – Usdaw General Secretary Elect says: “We are delighted that the city council has finally agreed to a ‘summit’, something that Retail NI and Usdaw have been calling for since the first consultation last year.

“We do not believe longer Sunday trading hours is the best way forward, so we look forward to working alongside Belfast City Council and other interested parties to explore options that would deliver a real and meaningful boost to the weekend economy of Belfast. It is the sensible way forward and we thank the councillors for listening to the evidence and coming to that conclusion.”

Notes for editors:

Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fifth biggest and the fastest growing trade union with over 430,000 members. Membership has increased by more than 28% over the 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