The shops and food chains that have reopened branches during lockdown including B&Q and Homebase
AFTER weeks of being left without our favourite fast food and DIY stores during lockdown, some shops and restaurants are slowly starting to reopen.
The government ordered the closure of all non-essential shops over a month ago, to stop the spread of the deadly coronavirus and to relieve pressure on the NHS.
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But many essential shops also ended up closing after fearing that continuing to operate would put staff and customers at risk.
Now, some of these chains are beginning to trial reopening stores - although it won't be business as usual.
Here are all of the shops that are starting to reopen during lockdown and what measures they've put in place to keep shoppers and staff safe.
B&Q
B&Q has already reopened 155 stores across the UK - half of the total number of branches.
The hardware chain initially reopened 14 branches mid-April after watching “other essential retailers support social distancing measures”.
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Another 61 branches followed suit on April 22, with an additional 80 stores opening doors on April 23, following strict social distancing measures at all of them.
The DIY chain is considered to be "essential" meaning that it is allowed to stay open during the lockdown.
You can find the full list of reopened stores here.
Burger King
Burger King is carrying out a phased reopening of the majority of restaurants for delivery and drive-thru orders.
Cafe and restaurants are allowed to continue to offer a takeaway service during lockdown, but Burger King closed all branches to keep staff and customers safe.
Having given staff training on how to run a kitchen with social distancing rules, it started by opening four stores last week but has already expanded this by another 10.
The restaurants are offering a limited menu, although classics such as Whoppers and Chicken Royales are available, and customers can order their food through Just Eat or Deliveroo.
It means that only those who live within a certain area of the open branches will be able to order.
You might want to keep in mind that Deliveroo has a minimum spend of £5 for Burger King orders, plus a £2.95 delivery charge.
Just Eat charges a delivery fee of £2.50.
Costa Coffee
Caffeine addicts will be pleased to know that Costa Coffee has reopened four branches for drive-thru and delivery orders.
Click here to see where Costa has reopened - although keep in mind customers won't be able to eat inside these stores.
As well as hot drinks, Costa is also serving cakes and hot food, including toasties and sandwiches.
It's teamed up with Uber Eats for deliveries and there is no minimum delivery spend - but you'll need to pay a delivery fee of £3.50 per order.
Costa announced it was temporarily closing the majority of its 2,700 stores on March 23, keeping just a handful of branches inside hospitals open for NHS staff.
Five Guys
Five Guys has reopened 20 of its 104 restaurants for click and collect and delivery orders only, along with a full menu.
See the full list of reopened Five Guys branches here.
Customers can order food via the Five Guys website and arrange to collect it themselves - there's no minimum spend or extra charge to do this.
If you're unable to leave the house, it's teamed up with Deliveroo but you'll need to factor in the £5 minimum spend and £2.99 delivery charge when placing your order.
Homebase
Homebase reopened 20 of its stores this weekend in a trial, that if successful, will see all of its stores reopen.
The home improvement retailer is considered to be essential so is allowed to stay open during lockdown, but it temporarily closed all stores as it struggled to comply with social distancing rules.
It has operated a click and collect service over the last four weeks but customers have struggled to get onto its website due to the high demand.
Over the weekend, hundreds of shoppers were spotted venturing out during lockdown to queue outside the reopened stores but they were all abiding by rules - keeping at least two metres apart.
KFC
KFC fans can once again get their hands on their favourite fried chicken after the fast food chain reopened 15 branches for delivery only - you can find out which ones here.
You won't be able to order directly from the restaurant - you'll need to go through a third party delivery service.
Orders placed through Deliveroo will see a £3.49 delivery charge added to the bill, while Just East charges £3 and Uber Eats charges £3.50.
KFC is running a limited menu to help keep workers safe, but when we checked, you can still order single sandwiches, smaller meal boxes and larger bucket options.
KFC has 900 outlets in the UK, with the chicken chain having temporarily shut up shop on March 23.
Pret a Manger
Pret a Manger has reopened 10 London cafes close to hospitals to help serve frontline healthcare workers
Like other chains, these Pret stores are only open for delivery orders placed through Just Eat, Deliveroo or Uber Eats.
You'll need to factor in the delivery charges, for example, Deliveroo charges £3.49, Just Eat is £3 and Uber Eats charges £3.50.
Only a limited menu is available including the most popular sandwiches, salads and baguettes.
Pret a Manger has around 400 cafes in the UK, all of which shut on March 21.
Shake Shack
Burger chain Shake Shack is to reopen two of its London restaurants for takeaway and delivery this week.
The Tottenham Court Road branch will open on Tuesday April 28, and the one in Canary Wharf opens on Thursday April 30.
Customers will be able to place takeaway orders in the restaurants themselves, or order food for home delivery through Deliveroo.
The company, which is known for its burgers, crinkly fries and milkshakes, said it has now introduced social distancing measures designed to keep staff and customers safe.
These include face masks for all employees, floor markers, contactless pick-up and delivery, and allocated pick-up zones for delivery riders.
The opening hours for the Tottenham Court Road and Canary Wharf restaurants will be 11.30am to 10pm.
Timpsons
The shoe repairer, dry cleaning and locksmith chain announced today that it is going to slowly start reopening some of its stores.
While its locksmiths have remained open during the lockdown, it's now planning on opening stores that are located inside supermarkets after receiving the go-ahead by the government.
Perspex screens have been put up in these stores and strict hygiene routines will be implemented to keep staff and customers safe during this time.
The shops will gradually be reopening over the next few weeks - you can find out which ones .
Timpsons has topped up furloughed staffs' salaries by 20 per cent while the stores have been closed down, and will continue to do so for those who aren't able to return to work yet.
Which brands are looking to reopen?
Some brands have announced that they are looking to reopen but are yet to announce when or how.
Greggs
Greggs is looking to open a small number of branches to test if and how it will reopen its 2,050 UK stores.
A spokesperson told The Sun: "We want to play our part in getting the nation back up and running again so we are planning to conduct a limited trial with volunteers to explore how we can reopen our shops with new measures in place that keep our colleagues and customers as safe as we can when we reopen at scale."
It is yet to confirm the finer details of the trials, including how many branches could reopen, which stores will open first and exactly what kind of service it will offer.
It could adopt a social distancing policy in stores for customers to collect food to takeaway or it may team up with delivery services, such as Just Eat or Deliveroo, so you can get your pastries brought to you at home during lockdown.
Either way, we can't wait to get our chops around a steak bake or vegan sausage roll.
John Lewis
John Lewis has said that it will be ready to reopen stores from mid-May - but only if the government lifts lockdown measures on non-essential shops.
Bosses say that under the plans, the department store chain will reopen in three phases with shops that have big car parks going first.
The plans could also take between three and six weeks to roll out.
McDonald's
Maccies has made no official announcement about reopening stores but reports suggest that the fast food chain may be looking at offering delivery and drive-thru services from mid-May.
Maccies fans were left gutted when all 1,350 restaurants were temporarily shut on March 23 due to coronavirus.
Before closing all branches, McDonald's was still taking takeaway and drive-thru orders.
To help keep staff and customers safe, the restaurant chain had shut off seating and children's play areas.
It had also started using sticky tape to mark out boxes on floors to indicate safe distances.
McDonald's addicts queued for up to three hours when a handful of restaurants reopened for drive-thru meals in France earlier this week.