More than half of 500 business owners chosen at random believe that there should be no restrictions on opening hours on Sundays, a GRTU survey found.

This is the largest survey ever conducted by the Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises, and the majority of the respondents were retailers (64%). Whole service providers (33%) and the manufacturing industry (3%) formed the rest of the businesses interviewed.

62% of respondents do not agree on restrictions of opening hours at other times of the week, 27% agree and 11% don’t have an opinion.

In all, 52% do not agree that opening hours should be restricted on Sunday, 36% agree and 12% do not have an opinion.

54% do not agree shops should not open on public holidays, 36% agree and 10% do not have an opinion.

Economy Minister Chris Cardona welcomed the survey, calling it a useful indicator of where the sector wants to go.

Dr Cardona said that shops should be able to adapt to their demand, and the government’s aim is to leave the decision about opening hours in the hands of business owners.

Another suggestion mentioned by Dr Cardona is allowing shops to stay open till 10pm from Thursday to Saturday at their own discretion.

Dr Cardona said that the government is not advocating a free-for-all, as it wants a regulatory framework which will hand more discretion to shop owners.  

The government will soon be launching a White Paper on the matter.