The Sunday Trading Act 1994 came into force 25 years ago this weekend, allowing shops to open but restricting the opening times of larger stores – those over 3,000 sq ft – to a maximum of six consecutive hours between 10am and 6pm. This compromise legislation from the Major administration followed the defeat of the Shops Bill 1986, Margaret Thatcher’s only defeat in the House of Commons, which would have brought Sunday trading hours in England and Wales into line with Scotland, where shops can open at any time of day....
Dr. Alan Cairns | 4/13/2009
