Newport and Monmouthshire hairdressers on 'most stressful week'

At midday on March 12 Mark Drakeford revealed all barbers and hairdressers could reopen for appointment bookings from Monday (March 15), and the news took most by surprise.

Half of the hairdressers and barbers the Argus spoke to on Monday were not open, and all lamented a lack of notice.

They questioned why hairdressers have been allowed to open but other non-essential retail stores might not be able to open until April 12.

Denise Jones, who runs HairByJones on Monnow Street in Monmouth town centre, couldn’t open on Monday because she had to get her staff tested for coronavirus.

“It’s been a nightmare, and to be honest I don’t understand why we’ve been chosen to open first,” she said. “We were all in complete shock. It’s not a good idea to give so little notice because this is not an industry that can just open without notice.

“We were also initially told we could only open for haircuts. We had to contact Nick Ramsay [Member of the Senedd for Monmouth] to get that clarified, which has set us back.”

The phone hasn’t stopped since the news broke on Friday afternoon, and Ms Jones is now fully booked until the end of April.

She believes it is inevitable that people in England, where salons and barbers are closed until April 12, will cross the border to get their hair cut, and says 50 per cent of her regular customers are from England.

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Amin Nassa, owner of No1 Barbers on Commercial Road in Newport, was also not open on Monday, and was preparing instead for Tuesday.

“It’s been unbelievable, on Friday I had 200 bookings in six hours,” he said. “I’d say the most stressful week of my life, and the annoying thing is it could have been avoided.

Amin Nassa

“I don’t really understand why we couldn’t have been given a week’s notice so it wasn’t a big panic.”

He says he’s had multiple phone calls from people in England asking to book appointments, which he believes will be difficult for authorities to monitor.

“People are so desperate for a haircut they’ll come from anywhere – I do think it will cause problems,” he added. “It will be totally unfair if we’re punished for people coming over from England and getting their hair cut.

“I was really confused we were able to open. All I can think is that it will be a bit of a morale boost for the country. It seems really random.

“I’m glad to be opening. For months life has not been easy. We know some have had it worse, but I have guys here who are really struggling mentally, as am I. It’s great to be getting back to some normality.”

Tom Slight, owner of T’s Male Grooming at Station Street in Newport, says he feels sorry for traders who haven’t been able to open, and has questioned the latest announcement.

Tom Slight

“The lack of notice is horrific,” he said. “It’s been a real struggle to get ready for Tuesday. I’ve spent every evening cleaning and Covid-proofing the building. It’s not easy – the rules on what you can and cannot do seem to be updated that often that I’ve spoken to guys from Trading Standards who are confused.

“We’re glad to get going again. It’s going to be a long road back to where we were. I think it will be two years before we’re back to breaking even again.”

Owner of Chepstow salon SW1, Sarah Wilford, who was open on Monday, said: “I only had an inkling [of reopening on Monday] from some of things I’d heard in the media, but I thought it could have gone either way.

“I’ve felt so nervous and anxious. I’ve not slept in anticipation of Friday’s announcement. If I had a bit of warning it would have saved a big headache.

“It’s overwhelming and not an easy task [to restart a business so quickly] when you have 100-plus clients.

“If we had more notice, we could have spread out the massive upheaval that is about to occur.”

Sarah Wilford

A Welsh Government spokesman said: “The First Minister signalled hairdressers and barbers would be under consideration in this three week review - if the public health situation continued to improve - last month.

“Wales is taking the first steps in relaxing the lockdown. We are doing this in a phased and gradual way. Enabling sectors to begin reopening is a permission and not an instruction.

“As we take steps out of lockdown, we need everyone’s help to keep cases of coronavirus under control.

“The £150m funding we have announced will support eligible businesses in the hospitality, tourism, leisure and non-essential retail sectors that pay non-domestic rates, regardless of whether they have now partially re-opened following the latest regulations review or remain closed.

“We’ve already put aside £200m to support businesses next year and announced the rates holiday has been extended for a further 12 months. We will continue to review our options for supporting firms further.”