Legendary Republic of Ireland and Leeds United midfielder, Michael “Johnny” Giles, once quipped that “Great teams always have a Plan B. Look at Barcelona. Their Plan B is to stick to Plan A.”

Well it’s evident that despite some political friction, the government has got its own Plan B implemented tonight in an attempt to limit the spread of the Omicron variant. It may not be a huge departure from ‘Plan A’, but the key elements of more working from home where possible, and compulsory face masks in most public places, will have an immediate impact on UK retailers.

We’ve already seen a reduction in footfall following the Prime Minster’s Sunday night announcement and as data emerges at just how transmissible the new variant is. This is only likely to accelerate as we’re now inside the “10 day” window where any new confirmed cases would be required to isolate over the Christmas period.

Weakened retailers, desperate for a strong Christmas trading period, are now facing the potential for yet more failures in the New Year. This is being compounded by further supply chain issues – something we flagged up in our FRP Retail & Hospitality Pulse Report in November. Indeed, the importance of the last full trading weekend before Christmas really cannot be understated with city workers now unlikely to return to offices until the New Year.

It’s an impact that will be felt throughout the sector, with repercussions for landlords and suppliers as well, and is a cruel twist for a sector that seemed to be gathering some momentum after the unprecedented challenges of the past two years. And at the risk of descending into endless sporting quotes, it put me in mind of another sporting legend – the New York Yankees catcher, Yogi Berra – who once said “It’s like déjà vu all over again.”