Selfridges has reopened its food hall at its London flagship, but the rest of the store and its other sites in Manchester and Birmingham remain closed as the lockdown continues in the UK.

As food retailers are considered essential and can open during the lockdown, Selfridges said the reopening of Selfridge's London food hall comes with "stringent" strict social distancing measures to keep staff and customers safe amid the coronavirus pandemic. Opening its doors from 10am to 6pm (11am to 5pm on Sundays), the department store is (among other things) limiting the number of shoppers allowed inside at any one time, offering free hand sanitiser, protecting its staff with screens at the tills and implementing a one-way-traffic policy for customers coming in and out of the Foodhall. The staff will have their temperature scanned at the start of each day.

Along with fresh food, a range of household and pharmacy items will also be available.

Selfridges said it would offer NHS, health and social care workers easy access to the food hall with free use of the carpark, a dedicated entrance and fast track check out.

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