The fast food chain, which has 1,300 locations across Britain, said stores would be allowed to reopen at 5pm. McDonald’s tweeted: “In honor of Queen Elizabeth II and to enable everyone at McDonald’s to pay their respects, our restaurants across the UK will be closed from midnight to 5pm on Monday 19 September ». Deliveries will also be available after 5pm. Monday has been established as a public holiday and many retail stores have also announced plans to close. They include Argos, Asda, B&Q, Curry’s, Harrods, Holland & Barrett, Homebase, Ikea, John Lewis, Lidl, Morrisons, Odeon, Pets at Home and Primark cinemas. Sainsbury’s will close its main stores, but convenience stores and petrol stations will be open from 5pm to 10pm, while some central London stores will open to cater for people attending the funeral. Tesco’s larger stores will remain closed, apart from a few in central London and Windsor, while smaller Express stores will open at 5pm. Waitrose is closing all but a small number of its stores near the procession route. WH Smith branches will be closed throughout the day, while its travel outlets will be closed for at least the duration of the funeral. However, some hosting companies will continue to operate. The Stonegate pub group will hold open spaces on Monday and plans to show the Queen’s funeral on screens. Premier Inn owner Whitbread has also confirmed that hotels and restaurants will open as usual. Downing Street has said that individual businesses can decide how to approach the bank holiday. Subscribe to Business Today Get ready for the business day – we’ll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. The prime minister’s official spokesman said on Wednesday that the day of the funeral would operate as a standard bank holiday. “Individual businesses will have to make the decisions about what’s right for them and talk to their employees, but obviously there’s no one-size-fits-all approach,” he said.
