BREAKING John Lewis names the 13 stores that will reopen to the public in June

John Lewis has announced plans to reopen 13 stores next month, as the UK Government slowly relaxes rules for thousands of high street businesses.

The chain said branches in Poole and Kingston will be the first to reopen on June 15, followed by 11 more on June 18.

Sharon White, chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, said: "The momentous events of the last few months have tested our resilience as a business, but our resourcefulness, innovation and the spirit of cooperation between Partners has really shone through.

"It’s been heartwarming to see John Lewis Partners stepping into different roles to support our Waitrose supermarkets and to keep johnlewis.com running and I’m proud of everything our Partners across both our brands have done to help us get to this point."

Branches opening in the first stage are; from Monday 15 June: Kingston and Poole and from Thursday 18 June; Bluewater, Cambridge, Cheadle, Cheltenham, High Wycombe, Horsham, Ipswich, Norwich, Nottingham, Solihull and Welwyn.

Prior to opening, each shop will undertake a four-week reopening preparation programme.

This will include counting stock, replenishment, preparation of systems, merchandising, deep cleaning, the introduction of social distancing measures, Partner training and final pre-opening checks.

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