Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
It’s definitely not going to be business as usual
Lockdown restrictions were eased across the country yesterday, with further plans announced to restore a ‘sense of normality’ in the coming months. Here, we look at what impact the changes will have across the Canterbury district and Faversham...
Boris Johnson says shops will likely be allowed to reopen from June 1, sparking an expected increase in trade and high street footfall. Among those preparing to open its doors once more is Barretts, which has 10 car showrooms across Canterbury and Ashford. Managing director Paul Barrett says the business which has furloughed much of its workforce - has spent thousands on minimising any risks to staff and customers.
“We will certainly not be going back to normal and have invested £40,000 in facilities and equipment like PPE and signage to maintain social distancing,” he said. “We have many customers waiting to take delivery of cars they had ordered and we will also have a couple of people in each of our showrooms. “Throughout lockdown we have been doing emergency servicing and repairs for key and essential workers but hope to ramp that up in the coming weeks by operating a shift system for our technicians to maintain social distancing.”
One of the hardest hit by lockdown measures has been the hair and beauty industry, which has been given no indication when it can resume business.
But Canterbury’s longest-established salon, Antoniou is hoping there is light at the end of the tunnel and is preparing for a new way of working, which could be allowed in July.
Director Joanna Antonio says her 50 staff at the company’s salons in the city, Faversham and Whitstable are desperate to get back to work. “We have hundreds of messages from our clients asking to be kept informed about when we will reopen,” she said.
“We are drawing up a number of measures to be able to work safely and protect both our staff and customers. “As well as personal protective equipment, deep cleaning and screens between chairs, we will have fewer clients at any one time and
shifts with longer working days.”
Elsewhere in the city, the shutters have been down at Canterbury Camera Centre in St George’s Centre since March.
And owner Yan Cowley says he is still in the dark about how it might be able to operate when he reopens. “We obviously had to furlough our staff and pretty much shut down because we don’t do much online,” he said.
“It’s difficult because we are very much a customer-facing shop, where we like to offer a personal service and be able to handle cameras and equipment with them.
“We are a robust business and can hang on but I wouldn’t want this to go on like this for many more months.”
Garden centres were among the businesses allowed to reopen yesterday (Wednesday). Arran Rodgers, who is a member of the family-run Preston Garden Centre, says it is preparing to open its doors again on Monday next week.
“We were only told at the beginning of this week that we could reopen on Wednesday but need to do a fair bit of work to get it ready and looking nice,” he said. “We will be operating a signed, one-way system and limiting the number of shoppers to maintain social distancing.” During lockdown, the business has been offering an online collection and delivery service. “There’s been strong demand for that and we are expecting business will be brisk when we reopen because we know many of our customers are keen to come back.”
But Mr Rodgers said the centre’s popular Copper’s cafe/restaurant would remain closed for the timebeing.