UK hairdressing group wants to reopen salons in June

Hairdressers are currently not due to be reopened until 4 July ‘at the very earliest’

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A UK hairdressing group has said that salons across the nation are ready to reopen their establishments in June.

Earlier this month, the prime minister announced plans for lockdown restrictions to be gradually eased across England.

The government’s guidelines state that some shops will be able to resume operations from 1 June.

However, first secretary Dominic Raab added that hairdressers will not be open until 4 July “at the very earliest”.

The Hair and Barber Council, an organisation that encourages hairdressers to join the UK Register of Qualified Hairdressers, represents approximately 11,000 salons across the UK.

Keith Conniford, CEO of the Hair and Barber Council, said that many salon owners would like to reopen their businesses on 15 June, at the same time as various other shops in England.

Speaking to Radio 1 Newsbeat, Mr Conniford said he had discussed the matter with several people from within the industry.

“I have spoken to a number of practitioners I know within barbering and hairdressing and resoundingly they said yes [to opening in June],” he said.

Mr Conniford added that while hairdressing salons are currently scheduled to reopen in England in July, if any government in the UK gave salons two weeks’ notice, they would be ready to open.

Baz Rifat, a salon owner in north London, explained the lengths she has gone to to ensure her establishment is safe amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Ms Rifat told Newsbeat that she has spent thousands of pounds conducting measures such as creating booths, knocking down walls and introducing a text system with customers to confirm they are symptom-free.

She will also eliminate her salon’s waiting area and ensure fewer staff members make contact with customers.

A spokesperson for the Department for Business said the government has “set up taskforces to work with industry representatives to develop safe ways for businesses such as hairdressers to open at the earliest point at which it is safe to do so”.

On the government’s website, it states that shop workers should practise social distancing “wherever possible” in their work environment.

However, if social distancing guidelines cannot always be stringently followed, there are certain actions businesses are advised to take.

These include increasing the frequency of hand washing and surface cleaning, keeping activity time as short as possible, using screens or barriers to separate workers, using back-to-back or side-to-side working and reducing the number of people workers have to make contact with.