Mcdonald's and Greggs to close UK sites for Queen's funeral
McDonald's has announced that it is to close all of its UK restaurants on Monday during the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.
All the chain's sites will shut from midnight until 5pm on 19 September.
In a Tweet, McDonald's said: "In honour of HM Queen Elizabeth II and to enable everyone at McDonald's to pay their respects, our restaurants across the UK will be closed from midnight until 5pm on Monday 19th September."
Bakery chain Greggs also said it would close the majority of its 2,000 shops nationwide to mark the funeral date, though a small number of its franchise sites may remain open.
Several major pub groups have told The Caterer they are planning to remain open on the funeral date.
Government guidance has stated that there is "no obligation on organisations to suspend business during the national mourning period", however "some businesses may wish to consider closing or postponing events, especially on the day of the state funeral".
Yesterday Center Parcs partially backtracked on a decision to ask guests to leave its UK sites on the day of the Queen's funeral after complaints from customers staying at its parks.
Meanwhile, restaurant group Hawksmoor has called for "tolerance to how others feel or behave" and "however they grieve" amid pressure to close for the Queen's funeral.
Posting on Twitter, Hawksmoor said: "If you want to open, and feel staff need to work and people need to eat or drink, then you should. Just try not to make it sound like you are doing so in order for your customers to ‘pay their respects to the Queen' and implying that those doing differently are not.
"Grief, even national grief, is personal. There are few ‘right' ways of grieving, and few established ‘correct' ways of being respectful. The government have specifically issued guidance saying it's your choice."
The Queen's funeral on Monday 19 September will be a bank holiday and will mark the end of the national mourning period.
Image: Sampajano_Anizza / Shutterstock
