Good afternoon everyone

It has been a tough few months for everyone, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. Friday, June 12 will go down as the date when much of Northern Ireland reopened to the public after almost three months of lockdown. 

With all non-essential retailers free to reopen, including those in indoor shopping centres, Friday marked a return for shoppers, even if the weather didn’t exactly play ball to start with. Footfall was not understood not to be at pre-Covid levels, but that was to be expected, particularly during a wet and miserable morning. 

Of course much remains to be done and the hospitality industry here is among those parts of the economy still to reopen. A date in July looks to be the earliest we can see hotels return. 

It was also confirmed on Friday that there had been just one more coronavirus related death in Northern Ireland in the last 24 hours with figures released also confirming that deaths relating to Covid-19 have once again fallen this week, the sixth week in a row this has happened. There were 16 new confirmed cases of those with Covid-19.

I hope you all enjoy your weekend and perhaps get some much-needed retail therapy in!

Best regards,

Alistair Bushe, Editor 

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