If further restrictions are announced on hospitality, Harrogate bar owners have warned they could “finish us off”.
Bars and restaurants across the country are currently under a 10pm curfew in an attempt to deal with the rise of coronavirus cases.
Harrogate hospitality owners say any further restrictions would be hugely damaging to the industry – and the effects of the curfew have already impacted trade immensely.
A full closure in hotspot areas and a limit on household mixing are speculated to be announced today.
Martin Greenhow, managing director of MOJO bars, said:
“Hospitality has been hit with a sledgehammer. We are currently taking 20% of what we were pre-covid. We were just about managing before the curfew but now we have lost 60% of our trading hours.
“We are currently sat on a precipice and we are going to fall. Things are so bad now, more measures would be inconsequential – we may even be better off closed. It is that dire. But we don’t want to close because we want to keep our staff in employment.”
Read more:
- Harrogate Borough Council has received nearly £60,000 to ensure covid restrictions are enforced.
- The 10pm curfew on bars has been described as “devastating”.
Hales Bar is the oldest bar in Harrogate and previously relied heavily on the tourist trade. Owner Amanda Wilkinson said:
“We aren’t open Monday to Wednesday because I just don’t think it’s financially viable. If they close us in the evening at 6pm we will have to close temporarily because we don’t do a lot of daytime trade. How long we survive this all depends on pub landlords and if they continue to charge rents of businesses that aren’t operating.
“If we do close temporarily, we are talking about six months. This could finish us off.”
On Friday, the Chancellor announced an extension to his job support scheme with the government paying two-thirds of wages for companies forced to close due to restrictions.
The county was described to be at a at a “tipping point” amid increased infections, by North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum.
The continual rise in cases within Harrogate and its surrounding areas has forced council leaders to call for the public follow the guidelines in an effort to avoid the restrictions placed on nearby cities such as Leeds.
Harrogate beautician warns treatments could happen “underground”A Harrogate beautician has told the Stray Ferret that she is seriously worried for the industry as people are being driven to go “underground” to be able to make a living.
Beauty salons now have the green light to reopen but therapists will not be able to perform many of the treatments that are their “bread and butter”, she said.
Treatments which involve work directly in front of the face are not allowed under government guidance.
Michelle Mohindra, owner of Coco Tan
Michelle Mohindra, owner of Coco Tan, which is a group of three salons in Harrogate, told us that she has some major concerns:
“We have been given green light to go ahead and then told we can’t do certain treatments. People are so desperate to do treatments and to earn money again that we are actually driving our reputations and our industry underground and I am very concerned that we are going to damage our industry.
“People feel they have no choice but to carry out treatments behind their front door and they shouldn’t be doing that, but I understand we have been forced into a very difficult place.”
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Michelle went on to say that despite a demand for other treatments, they have lost customers.
“We have had lots of clients that wanted to book in, but because we can’t do any work to the face we have lost the appointment. Sometimes it doesn’t make sense to us that we can wax from the neck down without any issue at all but we can’t touch anyone’s face. This means no eyebrow waxing, no threading and no lashes, and people are desperate to have these done.”
With the cost of PPE rising, this creates another challenge for salons.
“There’s a lot of financial concern because of the cost of PPE. We used to purchase a box of face masks for £3.99 – the price of this just quadrupled overnight, so we have had to budget very, very carefully to staff the salons with the budget we have.”
It comes as questions are being asked by the beauty industry about why barbers can offer a beard trim but a beautician can’t offer treatments such as eyebrow waxing.