Grantham hair and beauty salons, tattoo parlours and barbers make the most of their time before second lockdown
Staff at hair and beauty salons, barbers and tattoo parlours were working flat-out this week to see customers before the lockdown began.
Several reported that staff were working long hours to fit in as many appointments as possible before closing for a month.
Clare Sheppard opened her new venture, Hair by Clares of Grantham, in Market Place back in September, and will therefore not be eligible for Government help during lockdown.
She said she worked more than 37 hours over Monday to Wednesday.
Clare already had a backlog of customers needing a haircut after she was forced to isolate for 10 days over the October half-term under instruction from the test and trace app. Before that, there were problems with flooding in her salon.
She added: “Some people might think I was silly opening after lockdown, but I’ve got good clientele that have helped me.
“Because I was isolating for half-term, I’ve had to squeeze a lot of people in Monday to Wednesday, so it’s a bit mad at the minute. I’m laughing, otherwise I’ll cry.
“I keep saying to my customers that I hope I see them on the other side.”
Darren Paddison, of The Tattoo Shop in Commercial Road, is also disappointed by the lockdown announcement, but had been expecting it.
He said: “We were a bit put out by it. We’ve had a good run over the last couple of months since the last lockdown. We’ve done everything we possibly can to keep ourselves Covid-safe.
“When we came back after the last lockdown, we were busier than we were before; because people can’t go on holiday, they want to do something. I’m hoping that happens again in December.”
Although Darren kept The Tattoo Shop clean pre-Covid, daily deep cleans and additional hygeine measures were implemented to ensure the safety of customers.
He added: “I think as long as the Government give us some sort of furlough and grant, we should survive okay. Hopefully, I’ve got enough of a cushion to last around six weeks. If the lockdown goes on until January, I’ll be really worried.
“I do feel like we are left in the dark for this first week while [the Government] works out what they’re going to give us. Last time, they did that to us and it was several weeks before we knew what we were getting.”
Darren is also selling vouchers for people to use after the lockdown to generate some income for the time being.
He continued: “I wish they’d locked down a few weeks ago. It would have been better then, so we could’ve been open for Christmas and that would have been better for everybody, shops-wise and economy-wise.
“We have to come back stronger. I’m confident that we will come back, but I’m just always apprehensive because you just don’t know.”
Enhance Beauty Clinic, in Brook Street, outlined the importance of customer support in their last days of trade before lockdown, stating that: “The next few days will make all the difference to our survival through lockdown. I’m so grateful we have this opportunity to trade until Wednesday night.”
The team worked extra hours to maximise income and it felt “like the best kind of Christmas spirit” had come early at the clinic.
Owner of Enhance, Lorna Worsley, said: "It came as a real shock to hear we would have to close so soon for treatments.
Enhance Beauty has bounced back amazingly well and managed to retain all of our beauty therapists in both our Grantham and our Sleaford salons.
"We have even managed to launch new treatments and attract more new clients. We have been overwhelmed by customer support.
"It’s disappointing to be closed for treatments as the team have really adapted so well to new Covid secure procedures. We regularly receive praise from clients about how safe they feel coming to Enhance Beauty!
"However, we are going to support the national efforts to fight Covid-19 again. We are excited to reopen in December.
"Until then, our phone lines and Facebook remain open for product orders and beauty advice. We are already taking bookings for treatments for Xmas and into the New year."
Scots Hair Design, on Swinegate, also tried to make the most of thes last days, saying: “We express our deepest gratitude for the support and patience of all of our clients and the efforts and hard work of all our team during this challenging time.”
