London, April 3, 2026: With the UK celebrating Good Friday, the number of shoppers on the move to make last-minute purchases during the Easter holiday is increasing, but there is confusion about whether shops are open on this bank holiday.
Although it is a public bank holiday in the UK, the positive news as a shopper is that most of the stores are still open today. Supermarkets, high street stores, pharmacies, and convenience stores are mostly running as usual, albeit with a few having reduced hours.
Supermarkets and retail chains like Tesco, Asda, and Sainsbury are usually open early in the morning up to the evening, and stores open in the UK on Good Friday, but they advise their customers to confirm the timings in their region since the hours may differ. Most stores operate almost on normal hours.
The trading laws do not apply as strictly as on Easter Sunday because there are no laws that compel large shops to close on Good Friday. This implies that businesses have the freedom to operate, and the day is among the busiest shopping days throughout the Easter weekend.
Retail analysts observe that Good Friday is normally characterised by high pedestrian traffic as people head to the long weekend
When shops are open, some of the services are impacted:
- Banks and many offices are closed due to the bank holiday
- In certain locations, public transport may be running on a smaller schedule
- Some independent stores can decide to shut down or reduce timelines.
Shoppers are to observe that Easter Sunday (April 5, 2026) will have much stricter rules. The Sunday Trading Act forces large stores to close in England and Wales, but smaller shops and Scottish stores are permitted to stay open.
.
The large stores will be closed by most major retailers such as Marks and Spencer and Primark already on Easter Sunday.
In short, there are stores open throughout the UK on Good Friday 2026 and, therefore, it is a good day to shop before Easter. Nevertheless, since there will be different hours and larger closures on Sunday, it is recommended that customers look up local store hours and plan accordingly.
