Free tool
Printable bank holiday opening hours sign (free, A4)
Choose a 2027 UK bank holiday for your nation, check the dates and your usual hours, then print an A4 sign or save it as a PDF. The dates come from gov.uk, so the Scotland presets leave out Easter Monday and use Scotland’s own August date. It’s free, with no sign-up or watermark, and nothing you type leaves your browser.
Making a sign for Christmas 2026? Use the Christmas opening hours sign maker, which is set up for 24 December 2026 to 2 January 2027.
Your sign
In the print dialog choose A4, scale 100%, and turn headers and footers off. To make a PDF, pick “Save as PDF” as the printer. If you add many dates the sign may need a second page: remove dates you don’t need.
How to use your sign
- Pick your nation as well as the holiday. Bank holidays aren’t the same across the UK. In 2027 Scotland has no Easter Monday bank holiday and has its summer bank holiday on 2 August, and Northern Ireland also has bank holidays on St Patrick’s Day and 12 July.
- Check every date against your own plans. The presets are a starting point. Christmas Day (Saturday 25 December 2027) and New Year’s Day (Saturday 1 January 2028) fall on a weekend, so their bank holidays move to Monday 27 December and Monday 3 January 2028. The Christmas and New Year presets set the days themselves to Closed as well; change them if you’re open.
- Print it on plain A4. Black ink on white paper reads best from a distance. Put it in a clear plastic wallet if it will be in a window or on a door.
- Put it where customers look, a week or two early. On the door at eye height, in the window facing the street, and by the till.
- Update your online hours too. Add the dates as special hours in your Google Business Profile, and change your website, social profiles and any answerphone message, so the sign and the internet agree. Google suggests confirming your hours for official holidays even when they’re the same as usual.
UK bank holidays in 2027
These are the 2027 bank holidays for each nation, as published on gov.uk/bank-holidays. The presets in the sign maker use the same dates.
| Bank holiday | England and Wales | Scotland | Northern Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Year’s Day | Friday 1 January | Friday 1 January | Friday 1 January |
| 2nd January | Not a bank holiday | Monday 4 January (substitute day) | Not a bank holiday |
| St Patrick’s Day | Not a bank holiday | Not a bank holiday | Wednesday 17 March |
| Good Friday | Friday 26 March | Friday 26 March | Friday 26 March |
| Easter Monday | Monday 29 March | Not a bank holiday | Monday 29 March |
| Early May bank holiday | Monday 3 May | Monday 3 May | Monday 3 May |
| Spring bank holiday | Monday 31 May | Monday 31 May | Monday 31 May |
| Battle of the Boyne (Orangemen’s Day) | Not a bank holiday | Not a bank holiday | Monday 12 July |
| Summer bank holiday | Monday 30 August | Monday 2 August | Monday 30 August |
| St Andrew’s Day | Not a bank holiday | Tuesday 30 November | Not a bank holiday |
| Christmas Day | Monday 27 December (substitute day) | Monday 27 December (substitute day) | Monday 27 December (substitute day) |
| Boxing Day | Tuesday 28 December (substitute day) | Tuesday 28 December (substitute day) | Tuesday 28 December (substitute day) |
| Bank holidays in 2027 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
On a phone, swipe the table sideways to see every column →
New Year’s Day 2028 is a Saturday, so its bank holiday is Monday 3 January 2028 in all three nations, and Scotland’s 2nd January bank holiday moves to Tuesday 4 January 2028. Check gov.uk again before you print, in case anything changes.
Common questions
Is the bank holiday sign maker free?
Yes. There’s no sign-up and no watermark. The sign is made in your browser, so we don’t store or see what you type. We only count anonymous tool usage, such as someone pressing print.
What are the UK bank holidays in 2027?
England and Wales have 8: New Year’s Day (1 January), Good Friday (26 March), Easter Monday (29 March), the early May bank holiday (3 May), the spring bank holiday (31 May), the summer bank holiday (30 August), and substitute days for Christmas Day and Boxing Day on 27 and 28 December. Scotland has 9: no Easter Monday, its summer bank holiday on 2 August, plus 2nd January (substitute day, 4 January) and St Andrew’s Day (30 November). Northern Ireland has 10: the England and Wales dates plus St Patrick’s Day (17 March) and the Battle of the Boyne (12 July).
What happens when a bank holiday falls on a weekend?
A substitute weekday becomes the bank holiday, normally the following Monday. In 2027 Christmas Day and Boxing Day fall on a Saturday and Sunday, so the bank holidays are Monday 27 and Tuesday 28 December, and New Year’s Day 2028 (a Saturday) is replaced by Monday 3 January 2028.
Is Easter Monday a bank holiday in Scotland?
No. In Scotland, Good Friday (26 March 2027) is a bank holiday but Easter Monday is not, so the Scotland Easter preset only sets the Friday to Closed. Change Monday to Closed if you’re shutting anyway.
Do I have to close on a bank holiday?
Usually not. gov.uk says employers don’t have to give staff paid leave on bank holidays, so whether you open is down to your business and your staff contracts. The rules to know are for large shops, with more than 280 square metres of selling and display space: unless they’re exempt, they must stay closed on Easter Sunday and Christmas Day in England and Wales (Sunday Trading Act 1994, Christmas Day (Trading) Act 2004), on Easter Sunday in Northern Ireland (Shops (Sunday Trading &c.) (Northern Ireland) Order 1997), and on Christmas Day in Scotland (Christmas Day and New Year’s Day Trading (Scotland) Act 2007).
Need a website that shows your opening hours properly?
Made by Millwards Digital, websites for UK shops, salons and trades, from £249 plus £39 a month for hosting and care.