Ripon supermarket introduces dedicated shopping hours for NHS workers and elderly customers

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The family-owned business in Ripon has introduced several new initiatives to support both colleagues and customers in the recent coronavirus crisis.

The store is now changing its opening hours to accommodate NHS and emergency services shopping hours as well as the vulnerable and elderly.

From tomorrow, Wednesday, Booths will be open from 8am-8pm daily, as well as on Sunday from 10am-4pm.

The 7-8am shopping hour will be dedicated to NHS teams, teachers, social workers and the emergency services and the 9:30-11am shopping time dedicated for the elderly, vulnerable or at-risk groups.

There will then be a slot from 8-9pm to give NHS teams, teachers, social workers and the emergency services the chance to shop in the evening. The shop will be open to the general public from 11am-8pm.

The retailer said: "Booths would like to say a huge, heartfelt thank you to all the front-line care providers for your hard work and dedication, we really appreciate you all.

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"The health of our community, customers and colleagues is extremely important to us, so we're asking for a little help from you to keep everyone safe and fed.

"Just as a reminder, we'd like to encourage you to shop outside of 9.30am - 11am Monday to Friday to allow our vulnerable and elderly customers priority to shop. We will not be policing this or turning anyone away, it's simply an appeal to our customers to help us look after our community at this difficult time."

And in another bid to support some of its more vulnerable customers, Booths has introduced the ability to take payment over the phone. This will allow those who are sending friends, neighbours or relatives to shop for them to pay for the shopping remotely.

There is a clearly-marked checkout in store, where an assistant will scan through the shopping then place a call for the shopping to be paid for over the phone. There is a £100 spend limit in place on this service.

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It has also issued a list of things customers can do to make shopping easier for everyone at this difficult time:

• Buy only what you need - stock is replenished regularly

• Use card or contactless payments where possible

• Keep your distance from others in queues and whilst browsing the store

• Wash your hands regularly or use sanitiser and avoid touching your face

• Treat colleagues with kindness and respect