MANY retail workers across Bolton will be able to spend an extra day with their families after major stores announced they would be shut on Boxing Day.

Supermarket giants Asda, Aldi, and Lidl will all be closed for two days over Christmas, to give staff extra time with their families.

The firms answered calls from shopworkers’ union Usdaw, who wrote to company bosses pointing out how hard store staff have been working this year as a result of the coronavirus crisis.

Paddy Lillis, general secretary of Usdaw, said in the letter: “With the country facing a crisis unlike any in our lifetime, retail and distribution workers have stepped up and kept food on all of our tables.

“The extraordinary response of essential retailers to the crisis has been rightly praised, and that response is down to the hard work and efforts of shopworkers on the front line.

“When others stay safe at home, they go out to work. They have faced increased levels of violence and abuse, as well as huge worries about their health and that of their families.”

All 631 Asda stores will be closed on December 26, with staff contracted to work that day being paid.

The firm added that all eligible hourly-paid workers will receive a guaranteed 100% bonus for their "unstinting hard work and commitment" during 2020, which will be paid in February 2021.

Chief executive Roger Burnley said the move will be unique to this year, to allow staff to spend time with loved ones they may have been unable to see for months.

Here's a full list of stores that won't be open on Boxing Day.

  • Aldi
  • Asda
  • Home Bargains
  • Homebase
  • Lidl (outside the M25) – shops inside the London ring-road will open from 10am until 7pm.
  • Marks and Spencer
  • Pets at Home
  • Poundland
  • The Entertainer – with stores also closed December 27.
  • Waitrose – except stores in Welcome Break motorway service stations and Shell forecourts.
  • Wickes

Morrisons, Sainsbury's, and Tesco are still set to be open on Boxing Day, although they will operate under reduced hours.