The new tiered restrictions imposed by the government look set to curtail individual freedoms to varying degrees for the foreseeable future. Humans are social creatures and when we’re denied regular social interactions the risk is that our mood dampens and life starts to feel that little bit tougher to manage.

I can’t be alone in sensing from the many people within the retail sector I speak with on a daily basis – at all levels of seniority – a feeling of physical and mental tiredness creeping in.

Tiredness with the pandemic; with home working and constant Zoom calls; with anxiety over business performance and job security; with working long hours in retail stores or distribution centres without the reward of social activity in the evenings or at weekends.