Empty chairs in empty salons: City businesses face up to Tier 4

FIRMS COUNTING THE COST OF TOUGHER RESTRICTIONS

“IT’S absolutely gut-wrenching.”

Hair salon owner Jane Nixon describes how she felt as Matt Hancock announced that Greater Manchester would be moving into Tier 4.

And it’s a feeling thousands of business owners across the region will be familiar with.

A change in restrictions, businesses finally being allowed to open then being forced to shut again just a few weeks later. Living in what feels like a never-ending cycle of lockdowns and tiers.

As of Thursday, the rules in Greater Manchester have changed again.

The region is now under the tightest restrictions in Tier 4 which means that non-essential shops, hairdressers, gyms, leisure and entertainment venues – such as cinemas – must close.

This is on top of the Tier 3 closures of hospitality venues.

Jane owns Hair Eden, a hair salon in Worsley, and has been forced to close her doors for almost 20 weeks this year. Today, the doors of the salon are shut again.

“I did try to prepare myself for it but it’s always a shock”, Jane told the M.E.N.

“We’ve been closed for 19 weeks already this year and in the north west we’ve been in Tier 3 for such a long time.

“When the announcements are made it makes us panic because we don’t know what’s going on.”

Jane said she would work around the clock to fit in as many clients as she could before the midnight deadline.

“I’ll go to work this evening but what’s the difference between tonight and tomorrow?”, she told the M.E.N.

“We’ve got screens, we’ve got masks, we’ve had no infections through the salon.

“I don’t see how we can do anymore, we’re a very clean environment anyway because we’re constantly washing our hands and everything is super clean.

“It would be good if businesses could pay for our staff to have a vaccine, that’s something I would do.”

Fellow salon owner Natalie Gaughran described the situation as a ‘nightmare’.

The business owner, from Heywood, spent thousands to make her premises Covid-secure. She is frustrated by the lack of warning given to business owners before tier announcements are made, leaving them no time to prepare.

Natalie, who owns Natalia Hair Studio, said: “It’s a bit of a nightmare when I put things in place to be safe.

“I spent a fortune on my shop – plastic screens, I have done temperature checks, done track and trace.

“All my staff have PPE – they have visors, masks, gloves.

Natalie says she does understand why measures have to be brought in.

“I understand it’s people’s lives.

It’s more important than someone’s work. But (the government) don’t give enough notice. They announced it last night for today.”

She said some of her customers rely on visits to her salon for their mental health, if they are feeling isolated during the pandemic.

“It’s just to speak to someone. If someone is going through a bad time, they want to get out the house”, she added.

Natalie was able to get a business grant during the previous lockdown, but said she is unsure what she will be entitled this time round.

She will wait until Monday to speak to her accountant.

“It is a nightmare, but rather than make myself ill I (will accept) there is nothing I can do about it,” she added.

Danny Holland, who owns a gym in Manchester, will also have to close his business to customers from today.

He said although the Tier 4 announcement was ‘frustrating’, that he ‘saw it coming’ after months of restrictions and the recent tier changes.

“I’m not really surprised”, he said. “It’s frustrating because it’s like standing in the middle of the road looking at a bus coming towards you and realising you can do nothing about it.”

Self-employed Danny said he went into the health and fitness industry with ‘good intentions’ to genuinely help people, but the lockdown and coronavirus restrictions have stopped him from doing this as much as he wanted to.

“It’s tough because some people have been working from home for a really long time”, he said.

“When they come to us they actually get out and communicate with other people, with me and with other trainers and for that to have gone it’s frustrating.

“I’m literally just sitting on my hands now until whenever.”

Sir Richard Leese, the leader of Manchester council, said Tier 4 was a ‘critical blow’ for retailers and the hospitality industry.

He said: “The new strain of coronavirus is cause for concern and the enhanced restrictions should be followed judiciously to limit the spread of the variant, which we know passes more readily between people.

“The prospect of Tier 4 will be received once again as a critical blow to the city’s hospitality industry – along with wider retailers who will also now need to close – and whose resilience to the economic impact of the virus is wearing ever thin.

“It is clear that businesses will not be able to survive indefinitely if they are forced to close.

“Remember that Manchester has been living with enhanced restrictions since March with little respite, and the key question is what further support can businesses expect from government if they are asked to continue to shut up shop at a crucial time in their trading year?”

When the announcements are made it makes us panic because we don’t know what’s going on

Jane Nixon, Hair Eden