Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Welcome to life after lockdown
As the coronavirus lockdown begins to ease, our thoughts return to life before the pandemic. The businesses that enriched our lives - gyms, cinemas, pubs, bookshops - have been closed since March, but many look set to return as the virus is brought under control. To find out about the unique challenges they face, Oliver Kemp spoke to owners across Kent about how they are preparing for the coming months.
The hairdressers
With hair taking on its own wild existence during lockdown, those who haven’t given it a go themselves will be scrambling to make appointments with stylists the second they can.
Lea Walters, owner of Stone Hairdressing in Canterbury and West Malling has been preparing to open both salons on the provisional date of July 4.
With a 15-week backlog of appointments to get through, Lea is planning to increase the salon opening times to 9pm and operate on Sundays to help her team get through the bookings.
There will also be no magazines available to flick through while waiting and staff will be encouraging customers to bring their own refreshments.
Lea said: “I don’t want it to suddenly be a clinical experience; I still want it to be a nice relaxing service for the customer, as well as protecting them and the team from the virus, so it’s getting the balance right.” Staff will also be using disposable towels, disposable aprons and wearing masks to limit the potential spread of the virus.
Due to the high number of staff working in the salon at one time, Lea has also come up with a traffic lights system to keep track of hygiene.
If a customer uses the toilet, their stylist will give them a set of red stickers to place onto each surface they touch, so a member of staff knows what needs to be sanitised for the next customer. Customers leaving their chair for a separate treatment will have an amber sticker put on their seat, to make everyone in the salon know not to touch it and that the person will be returning.
Lea said: “It’ll be really easy for the team and the customers to understand what’s been sanitised, what to touch and what not to touch.”