Falkirk district's indoor pubs, restaurants and hairdressers set to reopen

The region’s hospitality industry will welcome back customers inside premises for the first time since March.

Provided premises operate a two-metre – or one-metre, depending on mitigatory steps taken – social distancing policy, bars, coffee shops and eateries can cater for members of the public.

Appropriate signage and hygiene measures must be in place to protect workers and customers amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Businesses in the hospitality sector must also keep customers’ contact details to make the tracking and tracing process easier should someone display coronavirus symptoms.

The Carron Works in Falkirk is one of the many pubs which will serve punters indoors from July 15.

Detailing what customers can expect upon arrival, shift manager Lauren Dean said: “We’ve got all the tables spaced out and partitions between them.

“We’ve got coverings around the bannisters and on the rest areas. There are screens on the bar by the tills and we have the spacing stickers on the floor and sanitisers dotted about.

“The condiments have also moved from bottles to sachets.

“It’s going to be great. All the staff are looking forward to getting back to work and socialising with customers because that’s what we’ve missed.

“We’re closing the kitchen at 10pm and the pub at 11pm, Sunday to Thursday, and at midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.”

Italian restaurant Gambero Rosso is gearing up for a busy day tomorrow as it is fully booked.

The Falkirk venue’s staff are taking every precaution available to ensure the eatery is as safe as possible.

Pierluigi Verrechia, manager, said: “We’ll have one-metre social distancing in place inside.

“We have sanitiser and disinfectant solutions for the tables and chairs.

“We are awaiting the customers! We ask them to be safe and to respect the rules.

“Our staff are wearing masks, we’re sanitising once every five minutes and we wear gloves.

“We’re trying our best to be safe and hopefully the customers will do the same.”

Hairdressers and barbers will also reopen for the first time in almost four months tomorrow.

Clients will notice a difference when they return for a trim, though, as government guidelines mean barbers and hairdressers must introduce a range of safety and hygiene measures to protect staff and customers.

These include customers maintaining two metres from one another and businesses keeping clients’ details to make the tracking and tracing process easier should someone display Covid-19 symptoms.

Fiona Penman, who owns Eastgate Barbers in Falkirk, said: “We’ve put out hand sanitiser, marked out places, put out disposable gloves and cleaning stuff, as we normally would.

“We want people to feel safe and we don’t want them to have to stand outside.

“We’re also taking their name and number when they phone so they can be tracked and traced if they show symptoms.”

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