Marks & Spencer has followed Morrisons’ lead by giving employees a holiday on Boxing Day.
In a letter to 70,000 staff, chief executive Steve Rowe said it was a “thank you to colleagues for their hard work and efforts during recent months”.
The day off will apply to all Marks & Spencer supermarkets across the UK and Ireland, its Castle Donington distribution hub and all of its support centres.
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This includes its customer support centre, which is normally open 12 hours a day all week and was recently singled out for praise by Which?
However, the grocer will extend shop opening hours in the week leading up to Christmas day.
Last week, Morrisons told its 111,000 workers that they would be given Boxing Day off as a reward for their work during the Covid-19 pandemic.
It will be the first time in living memory that the Big 4 grocer has closed on 26 December.
Aldi, Lidl, Asda, Marks & Spencer, Pets at Home and The Entertainer all closed on the date last year.
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