Hundreds of thousands of shuttered sites reopen across England

All across England shutters are rattling open, beer is foaming into pint glasses and tills are ringing.

For the first time in months, many businesses that have been shut are able – subject to a variety of restrictions – to serve their customers again.

From the snip-snip of hair salons to the splash of swimming pools hundreds of thousands of venues that have stood silent are welcoming people back.

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Analysis by real estate adviser Altus Group shows the numbers of different types of premises subject to restrictions being relaxed.

By far the largest group is that of non-essential shops: 401,690 could reopen across England, a number which includes stores selling products such as clothes, shoes and books.

It may prove vital for a sector which has lost £27bn in sales over three lockdowns and shed 67,000 jobs during 2020 alone, according to the British Retail Consortium data.

Next are holiday homes and self-catering lets, with 63,507 premises, according to the Altus Group analysis.

In the hospitality sector, Altus calculates that there are 37,515 pubs, 27,022 restaurants and 15,282 cafes though only those able to serve outside can reopen for now.

Separate data last month suggested that across Britain, fewer than two fifths of licensed premises had a garden, terrace, car park or other area that they might use to serve drinkers or diners.

Even then, many may judge that they will not be able to attract enough customers to trade profitably amid chilly weather.

The Altus analysis showed hairdressers, beauty salons and personal care accounted for 20,703 premises with beach huts at 19,043 and car showrooms and car supermarkets at 5,296.

Betting shop sites number 4,193 while gyms and fitness suites total 4,162, there are 4,154 riding stables and caravan sites and campsite pitches total 3,700.

Other types of premises include: sports and leisure centres (2,889); caravan parks (2,873); car washes (2,815); libraries (2,583); dance schools and centres (956); swimming pools (555); auction rooms (132).

Finally, amusement and theme parks account for 75 premises with zoos and safari parks numbering 65, holiday centres 64 and there are 15 model villages.