Staff at one of the biggest Co-ops began wearing face coverings yesterday to promote their use ahead of them becoming compulsory for shoppers on Friday.
More than 7,000 employees at Central England Co-op, which has 400 food stores and funeral parlours, have donned face coverings and the retailer hopes customers will embrace the practice.
Central England Co-op chief executive Debbie Robinson said: “Nothing is more important than the health and safety of our colleagues and customers.
“Ahead of the official start date for customers to wear face coverings in shops, we will be asking colleagues to do so from [Monday July 20]. This is to ensure the message is as clear and consistent as possible for everyone.
“Some customers are rightly exempt from this request, for health or religious reasons. We have made these exemptions very clear on our website and all team members will be reminded of these important exemptions.
“We now ask all of our customers to wear a face covering so we know together we’re co-operating in our efforts to be safe.”
The new measures on wearing face coverings will sit alongside a range of others already in place at Central England Co-op sites, which have been very well received by customers.
There is some concern among retailers that the mandatory wearing of face coverings could lead to confrontations between some shoppers and staff. Incidents of violence and abuse rose during lockdown. Retailers have said they cannot be ‘enforcers’ of the policy, which should be the responsibility of relevant authorities such as the police.
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