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BHF shops

Our shops hit £1 million on reopening day

Our shops saw their busiest day ever as we reopened our doors for the first time in nearly four months on Monday.


Despite some shops in Scotland and all in Northern Ireland remaining closed, we recorded more than £1 million in sales, with customers particularly keen to snap up furniture, as they refresh homes for Spring. We are now encouraging people to keep dropping by with any good quality items they wish to donate, as every sale will help support our vital work.

The record-breaking day comes as we seek to recover from the devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The closure of our shops and cancellation of fundraising events has seen our net income cut in half. As a result, we have had to cut funding for new research from £100m to £50m in the last year, which has put life saving discoveries at risk.

Thank you to our staff, volunteers and customers

Our Retail Director Allison Swaine-Hughes said: ‘We are absolutely thrilled that in our first day of reopening, our shops made an incredible £1 million in sales, breaking the previous record for a day’s retail trading. We saw incredibly strong sales of furniture, as customers look to refresh their homes, and with Spring on the way, also look to update their wardrobes. Every item sold will help us continue to fund our life saving heart research.

We want to say a huge thank you to our shops teams, who have worked tirelessly to get back up and running across England and Wales this week, we couldn’t have done it without you. We are also hugely grateful to local communities who hit the high street to help support us, by shopping and donating - we are so happy to have you back.

Keep donating and shopping to help support our work

The last year has been the most difficult in the BHF’s 60 year history and ongoing shop closures have had a huge impact on our income, but as we approach our milestone birthday, we are incredibly touched by the continued loyalty, dedication and support from our staff, volunteers and customers alike. Your ongoing support will enable us to save and improve the lives of those affected by heart and circulatory diseases across the UK.

In line with Government guidelines, our shops in England and Wales have reopened with safety measures in place. These include social distancing on the shop floor, screens at till points and hand sanitiser available to customers.

We welcome the public to keep donating and shopping as we seek to recover the income needed to support those affected by heart and circulatory diseases. Our shops are particularly keen to receive summer wear to sell throughout the coming season. Those not yet ready to hit the high street can also post smaller items such as branded clothing, jewellery, vinyl records and cameras, using our freepost donation service. 

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