‘It could be the setback to push us over edge’
FAMILIES and businesses were devastated by the new restrictions in the North.
Beauty therapy boss Vicky Evans, 31, said: “I am absolutely gutted. I’m going to have to cancel all my clients, but can’t rearrange appointments because we still don’t know when we can reopen.
“I’ve been topping up wages for my staff who are on furlough so they still earned 100 per cent but I can’t afford to do that any more. Now I will only receive 60 per cent furlough so they may decide to get other jobs and I can’t blame them.”
Vicky, of Winsford who runs Cheshire Skin Logic, added: “I just feel sick. I’m thinking about all the other businesses out there like me that can’t reopen.”
Jason Bailey, 39, owner of street food firm Grub in Manchester, said: “This could be the setback to push us over the edge. Keeping people safe has to be the top priority. It’s just how it’s been done, the timing is awful.”
Joyce Brindley, 75, from Stockport, who is shielding said the measures were “very confusing”. She said: “We were supposed to see our grandchildren for the first time since Christmas today.” Crohn’s disease
sufferer Jenny Cooper, 36, from Burnage, Greater Manchester, said: “It’s really important to keep the vulnerable safe, but it does feel very sudden.We were on the cusp of freedom.”.
Piotr Pawlowski, who runs Cafe Bistro in Flixton,Trafford, said food was going to be wasted after he received cancellations for a tapas evening. He said the new restrictions, which ban members of two different households from mixing in restaurants, would not help but “it’s something we need to follow”.
Piotr added: “Safety is most important for us and our customers.”