Supermarket chain Tesco will close its smaller Express stores early so employees can watch the Euro 2024 final on Sunday 14 July.
To mark the occasion of the England men’s football team reaching the final, its more than 1,800 Express stores across England will shut at 7.30pm, replacing the usual closing time of 10pm or 11pm. All stores will then reopen as normal the following morning from 6am or 7am.
Employees will still receive their normal pay in full for those hours and will be able to travel home or to the pub in time for kick-off. The retailer’s larger stores in England will already be closed by the time the match begins.
Stores in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will remain open in line with their usual hours. All online orders already placed for Sunday evening will be honoured and delivered as normal.
Kevin Tindall, managing director of UK stores at Tesco, said: “We are delighted that the Three Lions have reached a second successive Euros final after a nail-biting last gasp win over the Netherlands last night. We appreciate just how much this means to so many of our employees, so we want them to be able to celebrate with their family and friends.
“So now that we have made it through to the final, we will close our stores across England in time for them to get behind Gareth Southgate and the team, and we’ll all be hoping that football will be coming home.”
