Finally, the roadmap for lifting the current (and hopefully final) lockdown in England has been laid out and there’s plenty to review, analyse and dissect. With non-essential businesses being given the green light to reopen on April 12th there’s a lot of things to consider - whether that’s pivoting from online sales to shifting your focus back to your physical store or trying to get your head around the new post-Brexit EU shipping regulations. It’s been a tough start to the year in general for retail, but projections suggest there’s cause for some optimism moving forward into 2021. In episode 32 of The Resilient Retail Game plan, I run through what we do know about the conditions set out by the government relating to retail, the questions that remain and the themes and forces that are shaping the industry in 2021. We’ll discuss how the £125 billion pounds currently held in savings could translate to strong consumer spending once things return to normality; I’ll cover the relief packages, grants and assistance available to help you with reopening and covering your rates; and I’ll also detail how the growing desire for consumers to support small, independent and local businesses should see retailers like you secure a bigger piece of the consumer spending pie.