AN Ellesmere Port store is to shut its doors on Christmas Eve.

But this is no story of retail gloom - instead one of a homeware retailer which says it wants its employees to make the most of the Christmas season.

All Jysk UK stores will close on Christmas Eve for the third year running to give staff the opportunity to spend time with friends and family.

An unusual initiative for retail, the practice was brought in two Christmases ago by country manager, David Ashton.

He said: “As a retailer when our doors are closed we are not making sales - but as an employer we know the value in a motivated team serving our customers.

"Happy teams make happy customers, and this investment in our colleagues’ happy Christmas is one we’re happy to make.

“Since 2017 we have always closed for one extra day over the festive period.

"In that first year we chose New Year's Day, however we reflected and spoke to some of our teams and established that as a business and employer we would much rather close on Christmas Eve.

“What it means is that all our people have two consecutive days where there is ‘no such thing’ as work and everybody at Jysk has two days off – not something generally found in retail.

“We wanted to say thank you for the hard work our teams do for us throughout the year.

"Whilst it is a small gesture, we know that they really appreciate it."

The Scandinavian-originated store, which has 19 branches in the UK, will reopen on Boxing Day.