After more than three months of lockdown, the region’s towns, cities and out of town shopping centres were finally allowed to reopen their doors this morning (April 12).
Non-essential shops, hairdressers, gyms and spas can open again while restaurants, pubs and bars can start selling food and drink to customers seated outside.
The latest lifting of restrictions also means non-essential travel can start again and self-contained holiday accommodation can reopen to members of the same household.
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In Leicester the team running the Business Improvement District (BID) have launched a recovery plan to support businesses as they reopen and encourage people back into the city.
It includes three “Dine in the Square” outdoor seating areas where customers can order directly from city centre cafes and restaurants, to help them increase capacity and boost sales.
Businesses are also being offered free access to a mobile ordering system giving them contact-free service and payment, while a “Cleaner Leicester” programme, in partnership with Leicester City Council, will cover street washing, graffiti removal and gum removal.
The BID is also planning a “Restaurant Week” and a programme of Covid-secure events to help safely encourage visitors back.
BID Leicester director Simon Jenner said: “This year will see the BID Leicester team working hard to support businesses across all sectors as restrictions are eased to enable a strong recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.
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“As well as practical support such as handing out social distancing signage and hand sanitiser to businesses, we have an ambitious programme of projects and events that will get people back into the city centre and enjoy the range of shops, bars, restaurants, arts and leisure attractions here.
“Our projects are designed to directly benefit businesses, helping them to reduce costs associated with reopening and operating in a Covid-secure way, increase their potential for sales whilst social distancing is in place and attract new customers through promotion and increased city centre footfall.
“I’d encourage all city centre businesses to look through the plan and engage with as many of the projects as possible to get maximum benefit.
“The BID team are always available to answer any questions, and our Street Ambassador team are back in the city centre to offer any assistance businesses may need.”
Today also sees Leicestershire retailer Next open its new concept store at the £168 million extension to the out-of-town Fosse Park Shopping centre.
The store – which covers 56,536 sq ft – will be the third largest Next store in Britain, and will include the latest styles from its womens, mens, childrens and homeware ranges, and new lines including Baker by Ted Baker for kids.
It will also be fitted with what the company describes as “boutique-inspired” fitting rooms as well as the first “Home Fragrance Room” from Next – with 32 of Next’s bestselling fragrances.
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The store will include a Costa Coffee, Virgin Holidays branch and Next’s first Waterstones concession.
In hospitality, Loungers, the company behind Cosy Club and Lounge – which both have bars in Leicester – will start a phased reopening of its sites in England this week, before fully throwing open its doors in May.
The company plans to open 47 of its sites in England today, as lockdown restrictions ease, and five in Wales on April 26. It will start serving at the rest of its 172 restaurants, bars and cafes across the two countries next month.
The new Lane7 bowling alley in Great Central Street, Leicester, has created a new beer garden to add to its outdoor drinking and dining area, with capacity for 400.
In Derby, Adam Tamsett, general manager at the Derbion shopping centre, said all stores will be back open from today as the centre reverts to its standard opening hours, last used before the pandemic hit in March 2020.
Among the shops open to customers will be Debenhams, which is to reopen for a few weeks for a final closing down sale before shutting its doors for good.
Mr Tamsett said: “We’re really looking forward to welcoming customers, who have missed in-store shopping experiences, for the first time since December.
“All of our stores will be opening on Monday and I’d encourage people to come into town and support their local businesses by doing physical, in-store shopping.
“People shouldn’t expect that everything will be completely back to normal, but hopefully this will be the first step towards relaxing restrictions further later in the year.
“We’ve been working behind the scenes on bringing in some new stores, and we’re hoping to announce some really positive news about that over the next few weeks.”
While all shops will be open from Monday, indoor leisure facilities such as Hollywood Bowl and Showcase Cinema de Lux cannot reopen until next month.
Restaurants, cafés and food court outlets will be open for takeaways, with customers asked to take their food and drink away to eat outside of the centre in-line with the Government guidelines.
There will be limits on the number of visitors allowed in the centre and individual shops at busier times, with queuing systems in place where necessary.
A one-way system is also in operation, with shoppers, who are required to wear face coverings unless exempt, asked to follow a marked route around the centre.
Toilet facilities will be available to use, and will undergo regular deep cleaning, as will other surfaces like handrails and buttons. Hand-wash stands are also in place at entrances and other locations around the centre.
Nottingham’s shoppers have also been told to expect queues and adhere to social distancing when they return to the Victoria Centre.
Social distancing and face coverings inside the centre will remain in place along with hand sanitiser stations dotted around.
All entrances will be open, but footfall will be monitored, with shoppers told to expect queues outside the centre and some shops at busy times.
One major change is that the car park will be open, charging normal car parking fares.
Shoppers can take a ticket on arrival or pay contactless at a ticket station as they leave, or at the exit barrier.
Nigel Wheatley, centre director at the Victoria Centre, said: “We can’t wait to welcome shoppers and retailers back to our centre.
“The last time many people were with us, they would have been doing their Christmas shopping and while it may now be spring, shoppers can expect a similar experience to December in terms of our guidelines.”
Visitors are encouraged to only shop with those from their bubble or household, with lifts only able to be used by people from the same group.