Singled out for criticism over working practices, overlooked in Parliament when thousands of jobs are being lost and ignored despite countless pleas to change the business rates system, this industry has never quite gained the respect it deserves.

Even amid the current coronavirus crisis, pictures of empty shelves and tales of in-store scraps over the last toilet roll have created the more popular narrative at many media outlets.

But once again retail is putting all of that aside to stand up and be counted – and companies and their workforces deserve far more congratulations than criticism for their near-heroic response to the coronavirus crisis to date.