Wales lockdown: Shop owners 'treated like children' over reopening

Shop owners in a Welsh market town say they have been "treated like children" with a lack of detail about when non-essential retailers can reopen.

Welsh Government ministers will meet to finalise a lockdown review which could see non-essential retail reopen.

But shop owners in Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, told BBC 5 Live they had not been given enough information.

The Welsh Government said it could not provide as much certainty and predictability as it would like.

First Minister Mark Drakeford previously said Wales' "stay home" lockdown rules could be eased in the next lockdown review, with a "stay local" instruction coming into force.

The latest changes to lockdown rules in Wales will be announced on Friday.

Shops in Wales have been closed since 20 December, when Wales went into its third lockdown.

Abergavenny has 200 shops and is home to at least 70 independent stores, with the group representing them calling for more information.

Lucy Hywel, who owns a gift shop called That's Lovely That and is secretary of the Y Fenni Business Community, said she did not feel informed "at all".

She said: "We're days away from possibly opening and we have no idea whether we're going to, or not, or whether we're going to be waiting till the end of the month.

"We're a year down the line with this pandemic and they should have learned by now how to communicate with people. We're being treated like children in a room and not being given any information.

"We can't make decisions for our own businesses if we're not informed and prepared."

She said she could not buy some stock, such as food items, without knowing whether reopening would be allowed.

James Brailey, who has run an independent menswear shop in the town for 14 years, said he had turned to click and collect services during the lockdown, but that had only provided a tiny amount of trade.

He said: "A lot of us are very low on funds now and desperate for a proper income. All of us have huge overdrafts. We've all used our bounce back loans now, and we've not got long before the first payments on those bounce back loans kick in."

Mr Brailey added that a "stay local" rule, if similar to the five-mile travel limit imposed towards the end of the first coronavirus lockdown last summer, would harm the town.

He said: "In a market town like Abergavenny that relies on a lot of tourism trade, if we have a stay-local five-mile rule, it's going to be very difficult for us to be able to trade properly. For a lot of people living around here it's five miles before they hit a major road, let alone get into a town."

On Wednesday, Health minister Vaughan Gething told a press briefing any stay-local policy introduced as lockdown is eased was likely to differ depending on what part of Wales people lived in.

Tommy Brooks, 23, has run a hair salon in the town for two years, but has spent almost half of that time closed due to the pandemic.

He has worked as a cleaner on a building site in the meantime, but was desperate to open again.

"I think we're really fortunate that we've got a loyal clientele and Abergavenny is fortunate that all the independent business owners have come together and supported each other. We'd love to be able to open Monday, if it's safe to do so," he said.

The Welsh Government said: "We recognise everyone wants certainty to be able to plan for the future and that businesses want to be open and trading. That's why the first minister has set out a plan to bring Wales out of alert level four lockdown. He will outline the next steps on Friday.

"In the last few months, we have made huge strides in rolling out vaccines, but faced with new variants of coronavirus, we cannot provide as much certainty and predictability as we would like. We cannot move directly and fully into alert level three in one step.

"As a first step, we will consider the restrictions around non-essential retail and close contact services, and the possibility of re-opening self-contained accommodation for Easter."