Sainsbury’s boss Mike Coupe condemns plan to extend Sunday trading

Mr Coupe warned that they are confusing and open to abuse

Mike Coupe says there is no demand for change (Reuters)

The boss of one of the UK’s biggest supermarkets has attacked plans to relax Sunday trading laws in England, warning that they are confusing and open to abuse.

Mike Coupe, chief executive of Sainsbury’s, became the first major retailer to publicly oppose longer trading hours, which would see larger stores open beyond the six hours they are currently allowed to trade on a Sunday.

He said: “The industry is divided over whether there should be a change in the legislation, but one thing the industry is completely agreed on is that the current form of legislation is not a sensible way of going about it.”

The Government wants to hand over the power to extend opening hours to local authorities, but Mr Coupe warned that in towns where boundaries run along high streets, it could lead to one side with stores open later on a Sunday, while those on the other side are closed.

Council officials could deem whether an area is suitable for longer opening, depending on local opinions. But Mr Coupe said: “The laws at the moment are open to interpretation and abuse. There’s a lot of complexity in the way it’s being framed. Anything that starts to introduce a level of complexity at whatever level makes it more challenging.

“The ideal would be the same rules applied everywhere. If it is going to be localised, there needs to be some guidelines enshrined in law, what a zone actually comprises. I want to see a legally enforceable definition of the zone, otherwise we could end up with all types of Spanish practice.

“At the moment it could happen that you draw a line around an Asda store and that could open and nothing else can.”

Mr Coupe’s intervention follows similar warnings about their complexity from the industry’s trade body, the British Retail Consortium. The Labour Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, trade unions, religious groups and the Association of Convenience Stores have also voiced opposition to the proposed rules.

Mr Coupe, who echoed predecessor Justin King in opposing a relaxation, said: “The current rules work and is a happy British compromise. There’s no customer demand for it or colleague demand for it.”

Analysts have suggested that part of the reason Sainsbury’s would be against extended hours on Sundays is because it could lead to a fall in business at its highly profitable convenience stores, which charge higher prices and can open longer providing they are smaller than 3,000 sq ft.

Rival Asda, which has no convenience stores, has been vocal in favour of relaxing Sunday trading laws. Its chief executive, Andy Clarke, said earlier this year: “Why is it right for a customer who wants to buy their milk, or eggs, or bread, before 10am on a Sunday morning or after 4pm in the afternoon have to pay 30 per cent more for their goods? That’s just fundamentally wrong. That, for me, is an example of Rip-Off Britain.”

London retailers including Harrods, Harvey Nichols and Selfridges have called for closing times to be extended from 6pm to 8pm, which would create 2,000 more jobs and £260m in extra sales in the West End and Knightsbridge, they claim.

A planned vote on the Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill has been postponed to give ministers more time to win MPs’ support.