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The Hair and Barber Council responds to the Prime Minister’s lockdown announcement

Hair and Barber Council registrar Keith Conniford reassures the industry he will be looking for clarification from Government this week on whether hair and barber salons are classed as non-essential shops. 

Keith reacted to the Prime Minister’s latest lockdown announcement, which saw Boris Johnson stress that the lockdown is still in place, stating this is not the time to make any changes, but to take small steps. 

Steps announced were: 

From May – If you can’t work from home you are encouraged to go to work 

From June – Some primary schools may be allowed to reopen along with some non-essential shops 

From July – Hospitality sector may be able to open together with other public places 

All the above are conditional on the R numbers remaining low. 

Keith Conniford says: “The announcement was very disappointing and ambiguous. I was expecting more than what was announced, such as restrictions on households and families being lifted. The Prime Minster says he will be going into more detail this week so will be interesting to see what he says. 

“Concerning our industry, he stated that from 1 June non-essential shops will open – so does that include salons, barbershops and beauty salons? I will be speaking to Government and our APPG this week as to whether we are classed as non-essential businesses. For business, this was a disappointing announcement and we are left with no more information that we were last week. My biggest concern was his statement that if you can’t work from home then go to work – I believe that was aimed at manufacturing, construction and medical rather than our industry and we urge hairdressers, barbers and beauticians to wait for further clarification, which we will endeavour to get as soon as possible.” 

Find out more about The Hair & Barber Council: www.haircouncil.org.uk 

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