A major UK retailer will close its doors across shopping centres in the North East this Boxing Day, as the business has committed to giving staff extra time off.

Family-owned jeweller Beaverbrooks said it is a tradition that has been in place for 103 years to close its store on Boxing Day - lending itself to 'family run' company values. 

In the North East, its stores in Metrocentre Newcastle Eldon Square Sunderland Bridges Shopping Centre, and Middlesbrough, Linthorpe Road will all close.

The firm are also giving staff an extra week's salary in December which follows a £500 one-off cost of living payment. 

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Managing Director of the family-owned jewellery firm, Anna Blackburn, said: “In Beaverbrooks’ 103-year history we have never opened on Boxing Day, to give our amazing colleagues more time to spend with their families and thank them for their hard work throughout the year.

“As a business run on strong family values this is something that has always been incredibly important to us, and this year our 70 stores will remain closed on the date once again, to allow our people to enjoy well-earned time with their loved ones after the busy Christmas period.

She added: “We know it is a challenging time for many people and to support our colleagues, as well as giving them more time to spend with family over the festive season, we will continue our tradition of an extra week’s salary in December for all colleagues to show our appreciation for their hard work.

"This comes in addition to an investment of £500,000 in cost-of-living payments made in October to all colleagues (£500 one-off payment per colleague), providing further financial support in line with increasing costs.

“Rising costs have been a key consideration for all our business decisions this year and we have made sure to put our teams across the UK at the heart of them.

"For instance, we have just created a breakfast club for office colleagues to come and get a healthy nutritious breakfast every day on us.

"We have guaranteed salary increases for all Beaverbrooks colleagues year-on-year, even during the pandemic, and based on our record-breaking 2021/22 financial success, we paid our biggest ever bonuses to store colleagues.

"We also introduced significant increases in profit bonuses for office teams and all store management to reward the hard work of all colleagues across the past few challenging years.

“Closing on Boxing Day is something we know our colleagues value greatly, and we feel passionate about continuing this tradition, and hopefully inspiring other businesses to follow in our footsteps.”

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