What are quiet hours? When do Morrisons, Tesco and Asda have their autism initiative?

Morrisons extends initiative in World Autism Acceptance Week
Ian West / PA
William Mata8 April 2024

Morrisons is extending its quiet hours scheme, an initiative to make shopping an easier environment for people with autism

The supermarket chain made the announcement on April 5, which coincided with last week’s World Autism Acceptance Week, and the move has been welcomed by a charity. 

Tianna Cowan, Corporate Partnerships Lead at the National Autistic Society, said: “It’s fantastic that Morrisons is extending its Quieter Hour initiative to support more customers while shopping. For some of the more than 700,000 autistic people in the UK, the loud, bright and crowded environments of supermarkets can be overwhelming.

“That’s why it’s vital for all businesses to learn more about the often-small adjustments they can make to be more autism friendly. It’s great to see businesses like Morrisons taking the time to understand and create a welcoming environment for autistic people and their families.” 

Morrisons introduced the scheme in 2018 but is not alone in introducing the scheme, with Tesco and Asda also bringing it into shops. 

But what is a quiet hour and where can you see it in action? 

Which? study
Morrisons turns down lights and limits beeping noises during the set times
Martin Rickett / PA

What is a quiet hour? 

Within quiet hours, supermarkets make efforts to become less noisy and intimidating environments for shoppers with autism or additional needs. 

Some can find the hustle and bustle of shops overwhelming. 

Stores can help by turning music off, dimming the lights, not making tannoy announcements, and silencing the beep noise at checkouts. 

Shoppers are encouraged to be quiet by signs or posters outside a supermarket, which will invite them to keep trolley movements respectful. 

When do Tesco, Asda and Morrisons have their quiet hours? 

Morrisons will now hold the initiative from 2pm to 3pm on Monday to Thursday, as well as its previous quiet hour between 9am to 10am on Saturdays. Additionally, Morrisons shops observe the quiet hour for the first 60 minutes of trade on a Sunday. 

Asda also launched quieter hours in 2018 and they run between 2pm to 3pm on Mondays to Thursdays, according to Autism Unlimited

Tesco has a quiet hour from 9am to 10am on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in