Hairdressers extend opening hours as millions desperately need a haircut
Hairdressers are opening with extended hours across England this Saturday as millions of desperate people prepare to get a trim after more than three months of waiting.
Salons are making up for lost time, with some offering services from 7am to 11pm as they welcome customers back for the first time since lockdown was imposed in March.
Hairdressing company Blue Tit, which has a number of salons across London, has decided to split staff into two different shifts across the day to deal with the 16-hour, seven-days-a-week service.
Company director Matt Gebbie says they have bookings up until mid-August and 4,500 people on the waiting list.
He said: ‘We celebrated our ninth anniversary as a company during the lockdown so we can’t wait to reopen.’
Visit our live blog for the latest updates: Coronavirus news live
Meanwhile, Monello Hairdressing in Maidenhead has announced new Sunday opening hours in order to extend and stagger appointment times, while London-based HARI’s is opening from 8am to 8pm, seven days a week, after receiving 2,000 sign-ups.
Toni and Guy have confirmed they will reopen 172 salons across the country with longer opening times and Supercuts is opening up until 6pm every day of the week.
Kirsty Piekuta, the owner of Kapilli Hair Design in St Ives, told The Hunts Post her salon will have a midnight launch on July 4 as a favour to a customer.
She said: ‘We decided to do a midnight launch on July 4 for a client who had been really keen to get her hair done for months and is going away on Saturday in England for a holiday.
‘We thought we would help her by doing this, as we are fully booked this weekend in the day.’
Boris Johnson admitted today that he is one of the thousands of people across the country desperate to get a hair cut.
The prime minister told the London Evening Standard: ‘I will be having a haircut as soon as I can. It’s booked.’
A spokeswoman for trade body the National Hair & Beauty Federation, which represents more than 5,000 salons, said last month she did not ‘have a single report of a salon not opening on July 4’ as ‘demand has just been so great.’
All hairdressers and barbers are now required to wear face masks and visors while they work to decrease the risk of the virus spreading.
While many customers will be used to chatting to their hairdresser, small talk is likely to be ‘kept to a minimum’ to reduce the chances of cough droplets transferring through the air.
Some salons across the US and Europe have banned blow dries, but officials in England have not recommended this.
Nonetheless, it is likely that food and drink will not be on offer, while slotted containers may be used to collect tips.
Pubs and restaurants will also reopen on Saturday after the hospitality industry was one of the hardest hit by the pandemic.
However, they are set to be very different places, with new rules stating that no loud music or entertainment will be allowed, as well as no groups bigger than six and all customers required to give their details upon entry.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.