All Change Again

So it’s all change again, with today being the last day of “normality” as we’ve come to know it, for the next month at least.

Obviously lockdown 2.0, as it’s now known, will mean very different things and have very different implications for all of us, depending on our own personal and professional circumstances. Whatever your circumstances are, I truly hope that the latest policy change does not bring anything too painful or difficult for you to cope with over the next four weeks.

For nkd, it obviously means the full closure of both our salons. nkd ( ) Nottingham has been closed anyway since last Thursday evening and nkd ( ) Leicester will shut at the end of today.

Last week, I had many clients sending really kind messages of support in response to the email [rant] I fired off after we had just found out from a client that our business was one of the unfortunate chosen ones to close -  with virtually no notice -  under Nottingham’s new Tier 3 status. We’re very lucky at nkd to have such a supportive customer base, and never have I appreciated this kind of loyalty more than during these hugely testing times.

There were also a fair few customers who were not so appreciative about the content and/or tone of my last communication. I’ve apologised to each one of those clients and have explained that of course it was not my intent to cause any offence or upset. I also wanted to try and explain the following to them.

I fully understand that the beauty industry is not the government’s priority right now, and of course nor do I think it should be. I also fully understand that life is not fair for anyone at the moment, and that we’ve all got a part to play in doing what we can to eliminate this bloody virus. I've never thought of me or nkd as a victim and I would hate to be seen bitching or moaning that poor us have had to close our business while thousands of people are needlessly dying and hundreds of thousands more (e.g. all NHS frontline staff and other key workers) are working phenomenally hard to keep us all safe and well and society functioning. So although we will be sad to shut our Leicester doors for the final time this month tonight, we’ll also willingly do so if it means we’re playing our part in preventing the further spread of the virus.

But what I do have a problem with is nights like last Thursday, when we shut the doors of our Nottingham salon for the last time in 5 weeks, to be greeted with what I can only describe as hoards of revellers and party-goers on the streets of Nottingham city centre. To describe Pelham Street last Thursday night as rowdy would be an understatement, which is a predicament that was obviously anticipated, given the heavy police presence over the city that day and evening. That is what I have an issue with here.

Business like nkd, which were previously strong and thriving, are being pushed to the absolute brink here through no fault of our own. Beauty salons were the last ones to be allowed to reopen in the summer and then were the first ones to be told to close our doors again last week in Nottingham. We’ve had exactly the same funding and financial support as all other sectors, yet we’ve had to make ours stretch way further and quite frankly, there’s not a lot of elasticity left anymore. That is a really, really bitter pill to swallow – especially given the nature of our business and our existing hygiene and cleanliness protocols - when watching the crowds spill out of bars and pubs all over town, which were anything but socially-distanced.

I hope I have perhaps articulated the frustration that I feel towards the powers that be a little more eloquently than I did last week and that this latest communication better explains my stance.