Raj Aggarwal, of Spar Hackenthorpe, in Sheffield, says he’s preparing for the pre-Christmas rush on alcohol and gift-wrapping products.

“We have a good range of wrapping paper, gift tags, cards, bows and the rest of those items. We have them dotted throughout the store. Wrapping paper is something people tend not to think about until the last minute which is good for us convenience stores,” he said.

“We are making sure we are ready for Christmas and on top of everything, providing the right offers for our customers. We can’t compete directly with the big boys on price but we make sure have have offers available.

“Booze sales aren’t great at the moment because I think people are saving up for Christmas but I expect the week before Christmas is when we’ll see sales of alcohol rise a lot.”