CeX Corporate Stores In The UK Temporarily Close Due To Coronavirus

Update: (Mon 23rd Mar, 2020 18:10 GMT): CeX has confirmed that all corporate-owned stores in the UK will close from today, with the company instead moving to an online-only service. The retailer has indicated that it strongly suggests all franchise stores do the same "as it is the responsible thing to do".

Original story: (Mon 23rd Mar, 2020 17:02 GMT): Major UK games and entertainment retailer CeX is to close its corporate stores in the UK for at least 14 days due to the coronavirus pandemic, says IGN. At the moment CeX has yet to provide confirmation on this, but IGN mentions it's spoken to numerous employees at the company who have suggested it's proving too difficult to prevent the virus spreading between customers and staff members.

The report indicates that several employees have mentioned the chain could close tonight, although it's unclear whether this will apply to franchise stores. Apparently, there's likely to be some kind of remuneration involved for those employees affected by the store closures as well.

IGN spoke to various CeX staff members who indicated issues with continuing to work during the pandemic, such as cramped working conditions behind cash desks. The report also mentions that CeX has been contacted for comment, but has yet to reply. We'll provide an update when we can.