Campaign urges shops to keep their doors closed
By Anders Lorenzen
Have you ever wondered when walking along a shopping street on a cold day, why shop after shop continues to have its doors open?
Now a campaign has been launched to tackle precisely that.
Simply named ‘Close the Shop Door’ the campaign is asking that the UK government introduce legislation that insists on shop front doors being kept shut to avoid wasting millions of £ worth of energy and causing unnecessary CO2 emissions.
Research has indicated, that shops that insist on keeping their doors open consume twice as much energy as those which do not. It also means that twice as much CO2 is being emitted. If all shop owners across the UK had their doors closed, the country could reduce overall energy usage by as much as 2.5%. The data was compiled before the current spike in energy prices, but based on today’s energy prices it is not only counterproductive in our efforts to tackle climate change but open shop doors are estimated to cost UK businesses £3.5 billion annually.
David Bennett, Chairman of The Campaign to Stop High Street Heat Loss, said: “Sadly, despite numerous campaigns and appeals to the Government over the past few years, nothing has been done to mandate a change, and little has changed in the way and how shops operate. There are those who have chosen to buck the trend, Boots, Marks & Spencer and Waterstones, plus others, have made the decision to, keep their doors closed. But if you walk down any high street today, you will see that most shops – from big chains to small independent retailers – still keep their doors wide open. And the reason shops won’t generally shut their doors is simple – one, because they are afraid their customers will go elsewhere, thinking the shop isn’t open. And two, they dare not make the first move for fear they will lose business to their competitors who keep their doors open.”
The campaign group believes the only way to end this wasteful practice is through legislation. They argue that the Government must now put in place legislation that requires businesses to close their doors by law. To achieve this they have launched a government petition. If it receives over 100,000 signatures it is to be debated in Parliament.