it s the first saturday in december so retailers will be hoping for a busy weekend but will the new rules around masks in england and concerns about the omicron variant affect footfall? our business correspondent katie prescott is in romford, in essex. well, the christmas tree is up here in the centre of romford and stores are selling everything from christmas trees to stockings branded with west ham and tottenham and christmas wreaths. the hope is that shoppers will also be getting into the christmas spirit today and willing to come and spend money on the high street at this crucial time for retail in the run up to christmas. it has been such a difficult time for retail through the pandemic and there is a concern that the omicron variant will make people more nervous. having said that though,
of. thank you so much for “oining us. it s the first saturday in december so retailers will be hoping for a busy weekend but will the new rules around masks in england and concerns about the omicron variant affect footfall? our business correspondent katie prescott is in romford, in essex. well, the christmas tree is up here in the centre of romford and stores are selling everything from christmas trees to stockings branded with west ham and tottenham and christmas wreaths. the hope is that shoppers will also be getting into the christmas spirit today and willing to come and spend money on the high street at this crucial time for retail in the run up to christmas. they have suffered so much during the pandemic and they are nervous that the omicron variant will make people nervous to come out and spend. having said that, stallholders have told me that they noticed it getting quite busy because people in the run up to christmas are worried about new restrictions coming in and so they