A jewellers will continue its tradition of giving staff Boxing Day off.

Beaverbrooks, a family-owned diamond, jewellery, and watch retailer, has announced that it will not open its 89 stores across the UK on December 26.

The retailer which has a store in Market Place Centre is also urging other companies to do the same.

This decision comes after what the retailer has described as a 'challenging 2024' for the retail industry.

The company has also announced that it will continue its tradition of giving staff an extra week's salary in December.

Anna Blackburn, managing director at Beaverbrooks, said: "There is no escaping the fact that 2024 has been a challenging year for many retailers, with rising costs and fluctuating sales impacting the sector.

"This Christmas period is set to be hugely important – not to mention busy – so it is more important to us now than ever before to continue our Boxing Day tradition across our 89 stores.

"As a business run on strong family values, we want to give our amazing colleagues more much-deserved time to spend with their friends and family after a busy festive period – something that has been, and always will be, incredibly important to us.

"Putting people at the heart of every decision we make is key to creating a more engaged and stronger workforce, which ensures our people deliver exceptional levels of customer service.

"Hopefully we can inspire other businesses to follow in our footsteps to thank the hard-working people employed in retail this Christmas."

Beaverbrooks was established in 1919 and has 89 stores across the UK.