Tier 4 store closures ‘cataclysmic’ for retailers Independent retailers have described the forced closure of their stores in London, the south east and Wales without notice, five days before Christmas as an “utter nightmare”. Wales has also been put into a tier 4 lockdown. It was initially due to face tightened measures from 26 December, but this has been brought forward from Boxing Day. Mainland Scotland will be put into tier 4 restrictions from Boxing Day for a minimum of three weeks. In Northern Ireland, a six-week lockdown will be imposed, also from 26 December. Retailers have been scrambling to recoup sales lost during the four-week lockdown which ended on 2 December ahead of Christmas. Many hit out at the way the government handled the latest Covid-19 lockdown blow.