The technology will help Home Bargains adapt to the fight against Covid-19 and improve safety in stores
LONDON, September 14, 2020: Hitachi Europe Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE:6501), and TJ Morris, owner of Home Bargains, have today announced they have entered into a technology partnership to help keep customers safe against Covid-19. New motion sensor technology from Hitachi will be installed in all 550 Home Bargains stores across the country to monitor and limit the number of people inside.
Home Bargains is the latest retailer to announce the introduction of an automated traffic light queueing system to control the number of customers in their stores. Following government guidelines, each store has calculated how many people can be inside and maintain a safe distance from one another. Based on each store's capacity limit, the new traffic light system will signal when it's safe for customers to enter.
The innovative technology behind this system is Hitachi's 3D LiDAR (TOF) Motion Sensor. Installed by the entrance and exit of Home Bargains stores, the sensor is equipped with technology that will simultaneously count people entering and exiting. In real-time, the number of people in-store can then be accurately calculated and communicated to the traffic light signal that determines when new customers can enter safely. When the light signals green, customers will be able to enter the store - when red, customers will have to remain outside until someone leaves.
In addition to people counting, Hitachi's TOF sensor can also track a customer's journey around a store by directly detecting human shape and movement, identifying where they stopped and who they passed by. This is achieved without privacy invasion, as unlike CCTV cameras the sensor provides real-time insights without collecting personal information.
Hitachi Europe Ltd, Digital Media Group General Manager, Roland Fritsch, commented:
Our partnership with leading discount retailer TJ Morris is the type of collaboration needed in order to help industries adapt to Covid-19. By combining both our fields of expertise, we've created a system using Hitachi 3D LiDAR technology that enhances customer's safety in stores without invading their privacy. We're optimistic this project will be a great success and provide more opportunities for further R&D collaboration that can benefit TJ Morris' customers.
Commenting on the partnership TJ Morris Director of Innovation, Joe Morris, added:
Over the past few months, retail environments have changed, and we've had to quickly adapt to new ways of operating. New, innovative technologies have played a significant part in us still being able to provide a safe and pleasant shopping experience for our customers. By collaborating directly with manufactures, like Hitachi, we're able to actively contribute and share our knowledge to ultimately provide a better, tailored solution for our stores. The capabilities and applications of Hitachi's 3D LiDAR sensor are transformative for the retail industry and we believe it will offer us both great value and future opportunities.
About Hitachi Europe Ltd.
Hitachi Europe Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501, Hitachi) is headquartered in Maidenhead, UK. The company is focused on its Social Innovation Business - delivering innovations that answer societys challenges. Hitachi Europe and its subsidiary companies offers a broad range of information & telecommunication systems; rail systems, power and industrial systems; industrial components & equipment; automotive systems, digital media & consumer products and others with operations and research & development Laboratories across EMEA. To read more on Hitachi's 3D LiDAR (TOF) Motion Sensor COVID-19 solutions, please visit: http://hlds.co.jp/product/covid19solution_en
About TJ Morris
TJ Morris Ltd, trading as Home Bargains, is one of the UK's fastest growing discount retailers. TJ Morris was established over 40 years ago by Tom Morris. Since opening his first store in Liverpool, Tom has grown the business organically to become one of the biggest privately owned companies in the UK. The company now boasts over 500 stores and employs more than 22,000 staff. It is the largest employer on Merseyside and is the largest independent grocer in the country. Tom comes from a retailing family that has run shops for three generations. Following the family tradition, TJ Morris remains a family-run and family-owned business. The business operates on one key principle: to sell branded goods at the lowest prices possible. The company intends to continue its rapid growth and has ambitious expansion plans. TJ Morris plans to grow to 1,000 stores, employing over 40,000 staff.
Most recent headlines
09/11/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
28/10/2025
ESPN Announces Monsters Funday Football', Its Latest Real-Time Animated Bro...
28/10/2025
SVG All-Stars: Catherine Chalfant, Manager, Remote Operations, ESPNThe Ole Miss alum is an operational force behind ESPN's extensive college-football catalo...
28/10/2025
Elevating the experience: AI and data take Ryder Cup to the next level By Joe OHalloran
Tuesday, October 28, 2025 - 10:25
Print This Story
NBC produced th...
28/10/2025
Conquering the Air (waves): Taking a close up look at the IBC Accelerator Priva...
28/10/2025
World Series 2025: Spectrum SportsNet LA Brings Dodgers Fans Closer to the Actio...
28/10/2025
Dylan Southern and Benedict Cumberbatch at the premiere of The Thing with Feathers (photo by George Pimentel / Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival)...
28/10/2025
For three weeks in Lagos, Spotify's Greasy Tunes Caf pop-up brought the cit...
28/10/2025
Once a niche subculture, German rap has evolved into an influential cultural movement. Now, Spotify is giving the genre a new home with OFFCULT, a playlist dedi...
28/10/2025
Shane Delia's Malta serves up the Mediterranean this summer
28 October, 2025
Media releases
Feast on 9,000 years of culinary history Mondays from 24 No...
28/10/2025
SBS's global sporting festival continues with the FIVB Beach Volleyball Worl...
28/10/2025
Bilbao, October 28, 2025 - AgileTV, a leading technology solutions company for t...
28/10/2025
Disney, NBCUniversal, FOX, Paramount Each Achieve Double-Digit Monthly Growth
...
28/10/2025
CINCINNATI The E.W. Scripps Company has announced an agreement to sell WRTV, its local ABC-affiliated station in Indianapolis, to Circle City Broadcasting for $...
28/10/2025
Berklee College of Music and Berklee Valencia Named to Billboards 2025 Top Music...
28/10/2025
NEW YORK As AI usage continues to spike, a new study from IAB delves into an important aspect of how AI is transforming the advertising business with new data s...
28/10/2025
Charlie Jablonski, a broadcast tech pioneer who helped shape the modern era of Olympics television coverage, died Oct. 25 at his home in Lake George N.Y., the N...
28/10/2025
VIENNA, Austria Bitmovin has launched Bitmovin Observability, a new stand-alone video data solution that delivers real-time insights into video playback. The so...
28/10/2025
LOS ANGELES LucidLink, the file streaming platform, has announced a Frame.io integration and expanded mobile capabilities at Adobe Max....
28/10/2025
Mediagenix, a global leader in smart content solutions to profitably connect the right content to the right audience, today announced that it has joined the Ama...
28/10/2025
Lightware, an industry leader in connectivity and signal management solutions, has announced a major update to its Taurus
platform, which now delivers flawless...
28/10/2025
Following a successful mid-September International Broadcasting Convention in Amsterdam, Hiltron Communications will promote its full range of satellite communi...
28/10/2025
Open Broadcast Systems has chosen MC&S (Media Consulting & Services) as a reseller to help strengthen its presence in France.
With over twenty years of experi...
28/10/2025
Bitmovin, leading provider of video streaming solutions, has launched Bitmovin Observability, a new stand-alone video data solution that delivers real-time insi...
28/10/2025
Ease Live, the leader in interactive TV technology, today announced the successful launch of interactive graphical overlays for UEFA Champions League matches fo...
28/10/2025
LucidLink, the file streaming platform, today at Adobe MAX announced a Frame.io integration and expanded mobile capabilities, streamlining collaboration and hel...
28/10/2025
ATLANTA Gray Media has promoted Nick Hasenecz to general manager of WNDU, its NBC affiliate in the South Bend-Elkhart, Ind., market....
28/10/2025
Applications Open for Berklee Fenway Neighborhood Improvement Grant Boston nonprofits can apply by December 12 for funding to support community projects that ...
28/10/2025
28 Oct 2025
VEON's JazzCash Wins Silver Award for Innovation in Lending at ...
28/10/2025
Guests include Wayne Rooney, Maya Jama, Dame Laura Kenny, Chloe Kelly, Chris McC...
28/10/2025
The two-hour special, recorded live from the iconic Dolby Theatre in LA, will ai...
28/10/2025
Eutelsat upgrades teleports with Rohde & Schwarz satellite uplink amplifiers High efficiency and resilient Ku-band amplifiers for excellent RF performance
...
28/10/2025
These appointments come at a pivotal time for ABC, as the organisation continues to evolve to meet the changing needs of a digital-first media ecosystem. The ne...
28/10/2025
Scripps Research awarded $4 million to advance platform for neurodevelopmental disorders The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) grant support...
27/10/2025
You can touch this: Haptics becoming central to the virtual live experience By Adrian Pennington
Friday, October 24, 2025 - 09:12
Print This Story
The vid...
27/10/2025
A tale of two trailers: France's Stop & Go doubles up with its new hybrid tr...
27/10/2025
Pro Padel League Stages City's Cup Finals Inside NYC's Hammerstein Ballr...
27/10/2025
World Series 2025: Sportsnet Delivers Made-in-Canada' Moment for a Nation U...
27/10/2025
ESPN Extends Partnership With Sony's Beyond Sports To Expand Animated Altern...
27/10/2025
Reid Davenport attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Life After at The Ray Theatre on January 27, 2025, in Park City, UT. (Photo by Robin Marsha...
27/10/2025
As the days grow shorter and the nights get darker, there's nothing like getting swept up in a story that sends shivers down your spine. In honor of spooky ...
27/10/2025
UPDATE: Both parties have reached a new carriage agreement....
27/10/2025
LONDON As Hollywood jumps into the production of mini-dramas, a new study from Ampere Analysis finds that more than one in 10 internet users have watched drama ...
27/10/2025
LONDON Yealink, a provider of unified communication and collaboration solutions, has joined the NDI ecosystem with the availability of its SmartVision 80 premiu...
27/10/2025
ATLANTA Gray Media has named Chris Conroy as general manager of its stations in Cleveland, leading WOIO, a CBS affiliate, The CW station WUAB and Telemundo outl...
27/10/2025
ESPOO, Finland European connectivity leaders Nokia and Ericsson, have partnered with Berlin's Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute (HHI), to shape and drive ...
27/10/2025
PHILADELPHIA Comcast has expanded NOW TV Latino, its Spanish-language live TV and streaming offering, adding five more channels from Univision, ViX Premium with...
27/10/2025
Test & measurement innovator, Leader Electronics, will present its latest products and solutions at InterBEE 2025 (Hall 5, Booth 5218) Makuhari Messe in Chiba, ...
27/10/2025
Back to All News
City of Shadows, the New Netflix Thriller Arrives on December 12
Entertainment
27 October 2025
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Downl...
The technology will help Home Bargains adapt to the fight against Covid-19 and improve safety in stores
