First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, today announced indicative dates for the easing of lockdown restrictions in Scotland, with the ‘Stay at Home’ rule to end on April 2 and salons given permission to reopen on April 5.
The news came as welcome relief for Kim Boath, manager of Salon 34, who’d only been in charge of the Cow Wynd business a matter of months when it was ordered to close on Christmas Eve.
She said: “I’m excited to get back and see all my clients and hear about their Christmas and how their 2021 has gone.
“It’s just been so long. I’d say this lockdown has felt longer than the last one because of the weather.
“There are three of us in the business. We're all getting a bit fed up and bored.
“They’re not giving guidelines as of yet on how long we can open for.
“I imagine I’ll open up for longer to space clients out, just to benefit everyone. I can’t wait to see my customers and catch up with them.”
Patricia Crawford, who runs Damask Hair and Beauty, also welcomed the announcement.
The businesswoman, who’s better known as Trisha, and her staff recently celebrated 30 years in business and the team at the Grahams Road salon are now looking ahead to a busy April.
Ms Crawford said: “It’s great news. We can’t wait to go again.
“We’re just trying to clarify a few things because beauty isn't going to open back up until April 26 so that’ll give hairdressers a chance to get in and have three weeks.
“It’s good to see them starting to lift the restrictions. We’re really needing to get going again.
“Our clients are desperate for appointments and are messaging us.
“It’ll be nice to see them all and get back to some normality. We’ll open for six days, or maybe seven, for the first few weeks. The last time we opened from 8am until 10pm.
“We’ve been as anxious to get open again as the customers, so we’re looking forward to seeing them all again.”