McDonald’s has announced it’ll be closing all of its 1,200 UK restaurants on Monday 19th September until 5pm, as a mark of respect to Queen Elizabeth II on the day of her funeral.
A bank holiday across the UK was approved by King Charles III for the day of his mother’s funeral.
The Queen, Britain’s longest ever reigning monarch, died on Thursday 8th September at her Scottish estate in Balmoral.
John Lewis, Waitrose, Asda, Primark and a host of other businesses have already said they will be shut in the UK on Monday to mark the proceedings.
The government advises on its website that the additional Bank Holiday “will allow individuals, businesses and other organisations to pay their respects to Her Majesty and commemorate Her reign, while marking the final day of the period of national mourning.”
Although it says that some businesses “may wish to consider closing or postponing events”, there is no statutory entitlement to time off for workers.
Other major businesses that have already said they will be shut in the UK on Monday 19th September include:
Aldi
Argos
Asda
B&Q
Blue Diamond Garden Centres
Center Parcs
Curry’s
Harrods
Holland & Barrett
Homebase
Ikea
John Lewis
Lidl
Morrisons
Odeon cinemas
Pets at Home
Primark
Sainsbury’s (however, Sainsbury’s convenience stores and petrol filling stations will be open from 17:00 until 22:00 while select stores in central London will open to serve people attending the funeral)
Larger Tesco shops (the company’s smaller Express shops will open at 17:00, but a small number of stores in central London and Windsor will remain open throughout the day to provide for people attending the funeral)
Waitrose (a small number of Waitrose stores along the route of the procession may remain open)
WH Smith hi
