Brilliant to be back!
Salons and barbers have their work cut out
The hustle and bustle of daily working life was restored across Perth and Kinross this week as pubs, bars, hotels and hairdressers welcomed back the public.
Appointments were swiftly booked up for weeks on end in salons across the region as doors reopened on Wednesday.
Scruffy-haired locals were seen queueing outside barber shops and hairdressers to get a long-overdue snip, while parched punters headed out to enjoy their first indoor dram in almost four months.
The newest step out of lockdown is part of phase three of the Scottish Government’s ‘route map’ as the country attempts to adjust to a ‘new normal’.
It has been described as the biggest step yet since measures were brought in back in March.
F&K Hair Lounge in Perth showed they were a cut above the rest when it came to catching up with four months’ worth of appointments.
The salon took its first appointment at 12.01am on Wednesday with Olympic gold medal curler Eve Muirhead clinching first place for a cut.
The shop stayed open for 24-hours straight, from midnight to midnight, before reopening for the next bout of customers seven hours later.
Co-owner Glen Fettes, who worked the entire 24-hour shift, said: “It started off as a bit of a joke. Eve texted me to see about an appointment and it was looking like it was going to be about 10 days plus before she could get in.
“So I said to her jokingly, how about coming in for a first appointment at one minute past 12 ? She said she’d take it.
“So we had her in at one minute past 12 and I have been back-to-back ever since.
“It has been an interesting one because during lockdown Lee [coowner] and myself had to go and find work.
“I ended up working at a slaughterhouse.
“Twenty-two years being a hairdresser and I ended up there chasing bulls!
“So it is good to now be back to working in the salon.”
To meet the high demand, Glen revealed his salon will be open from 7am-10pm every single day for the next four weeks - and he will be there for every second of it.
“I had no choice to be honest because that is me back-to-back for four weeks, Saturdays and Sundays,” he said.
“That is me working 7am-10pm every day for the next few weeks.
“As soon as I opened it people jumped on it because everyone found they were having to wait two or three weeks to get their hair done.
“I am completely full so there is no give or take.
“One of the problems some hairdressers will have is you may get a lull after about a month, so it is trying to spread it out.
“When I am booking ahead I will probably stagger return appointments over five and seven weeks to make sure
I don’t have this in six weeks’ time.
“We had the Proclean cleaners in before reopening and they were brilliant. We are taking all the precautions and keeping the place looking tidy.
“Everybody coming in is so happy to be back.”