Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral is today taking place and with a bank holiday declared, many businesses are closed.

However a handful will stay open, or do so with reduced hours later today, to help shoppers grab their household essentials, or undertake short journeys.

Here are the shops, business and services that will continue running as the Queen's funeral takes place.

Supermarkets

While supermarkets like Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Aldi and Lidl, have confirmed their plans to close for the day, there will be some exceptions.

Tesco will be closing its larger stores, but have decided that its Express sites will open in the evenings from 5pm.

Express stores in Central London and Windsor will remain open throughout the day, to help those attending the funeral get the things that they need.

Tesco UK’s Chief Executive Jason Tarry said that all of Tesco's large stores will be closed for the day, adding: "We want to express our deepest condolences to the Royal Family, as well as our gratitude to Her Majesty The Queen for her unwavering service."

A ‘very limited number’ of Waitrose stores may also open on the route of the funeral procession in Central London to serve attending members of the public – but these stores have closed for the funeral itself.

Marks & Spencer will be closing all of its stores, as well as putting its delivery services on hold – though again, some stores in the capital have stayed open for mourners to grab essentials if required.

Asda and Morrisons are expected to close their stores altogether, or reduce their opening hours, with larger supermarkets closing for four hours, probably between 10am and 2pm.

The supermarket's smaller convenience stores will stay open to help crowds gathering to watch the funeral grab water and food for the day.

Co-op stores will only remain closed until 5pm, with the exception of some stores in central London and towards Windsor. These stores will remain available during the day to attend to crowds attending the funeral.

Co-ops ecomm orders and delivery services will also resume back to business at 5pm.

Shopping centres and retailers

Retailers across the country are set to close today, as a mark of respect for the Queen, however some shopping centres will stay open.

Westfield London and Westfield Stratford are likely to stay open, but a number of shops will close for the day, depending on what independent retailers decide to do.

This also includes Overgate Shopping Centre in Dundee and British Land’s retail centres, which include Meadowhall in Sheffield, Whiteley in Fareham, Fort Kinnaird in Edinburgh, Drake Circus in Plymouth, Giltbrook, Nottingham, Mostyn Champneys in Llandudno, and Forster Square in Bradford.

Landsec have also said its shopping centres will follow bank holiday opening times, but retailers will make their own choices.

Landsec's centres include Trinity Leeds, Bluewater in Kent, White Rose Centre in Leeds, Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth, St David's Dewi Sant in Cardiff, Junction 32 in Yorkshire, Braintree Village in Essex, Buchanan Galleries in Glasgow, Lewisham Shopping Centre, West 12 Shopping Centre in Shepherd's Bush and more.

Hammerson's shopping centres – including the Bullring and Grand Central in Birmingham, London's Brent Cross, Highcross in Leicester, Bristol's Cabot Circus, and Croydon's Centrale & Whitgift – will remain open on the day of the Queen’s funeral, and some will air the event on screens, a spokesperson said.

Post Office

Royal Mail has cancelled its services today and the 114 Crown Post Offices in the UK will be closed.

A Post Office spokesperson said: "The rest of our network of branches are operated by independent postmasters and typically are located in convenience stores. It will be the postmaster's decision whether to open on the day.

"On weekends, we usually have around 4,000 branches open and would normally expect a similar number to be open on a regular bank holiday.

"However, it may be that some independent postmasters, who would normally open their branch on a bank holiday, decide to close their branch on 19 September to mark the passing of Her Majesty."

READ MORE:

• The meaning behind church bells ringing 96 times ahead of Queen's funeral

• Reason Prince Louis, 4, will not be attending the Queen's funeral but his siblings George and Charlotte will

• Princess Charlotte may break tradition with mourning dress for Queen's funeral

• George, 9, and Charlotte, 7, will walk in procession behind 'Gan Gan' the Queen's coffin

• For the latest updates on the Royal Family, sign up to OK!'s royals newsletter

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