7 September 2021
The NHBF National Hair & Beauty Federation (NHBF) through August and September is organising a programme of Ministerial, MP and MSPs visits to salons across the UK. This provides an opportunity for MPs, legislators and decision makers to meet salon owners and employees direct to discuss the challenges of Covid-19 over the last year and their feedback on the impact of any Government support received.
Community Wealth Minister Tom Arthur MSP visited The Hair Lounge in Dundee today as part of a programme of meetings organised by the NHBF.
Mr Arthur, Minister for Public Finance, Planning and Community Wealth met with salon staff and discussed a range of issues including the challenges of Covid-19 over the last year, issues around reopening, the business environment in Dundee and government support.
Tom Arthur, Community Wealth Minister, said: “It was good to meet the owners of The Hair Lounge in Dundee and to hear from the team about the challenges facing their business during the pandemic. The hair and beauty sector is important to the Dundee and the Scottish economy, and listening to the experience of businesses like The Hair Lounge is crucial as we continue to deal with this emergency and plot a sustainable course to recovery.”
Local salon owners, Fiona and Martin Sivewright said: "Thank you to Tom Arthur for coming to visit us. We still have a long way to go before we will recover from the effects of the pandemic. Despite restrictions easing we are still only working at 50% capacity. The Government Grants and support during lockdown kept our heads above the water however we still had all of our normal monthly outgoings to pay. We have cancellations every week due to Covid related isolations and a lot of clients are still nervous with current case numbers or they are at high risk. Many clients have been financially affected and now come in every 6 weeks rather than every 10 weeks. The support received was fantastic while we were closed, but reopening didn't mean business as normal".