Fewer appointments and facemasks - inside a Sunderland barbershop preparing to reopen

Scolli’s on Chester Road is taking appointments by phone and online and slots are limited. The earliest that hair salons can open will be Saturday, July 4.

While this is not definite, the shop is scheduling appointments to avoid a crowded waiting area. Social distancing will be strictly observed.

The business has operated for 40 years. The shop front is a traditional barbers. The back is a ladies’s hairdressers. It was started by John Scollen in 1980, but he handed over the scissors to his daughter Naomi Scollen in 2018.

Both the ladies and gents sections are ready to snip again, if allowed. Scolli’s has been closed since March 23.

Naomi said: “We’ve got to be prepared. We’ve never done an appointments system for gents’ haircuts before. But it’s appointments only from now on.

“We’ve reduced the number of barber chairs from three to two. There will be floor markings. The number of customers we can have waiting in the shop has been reduced from eight to two.

“After each use, we’ll sterilise the seats, benches and mirrors, in case of coughs and sneezes. Clippers, scissors. We’ll sterilise pretty much everything. We won’t be using neck brushes any more, only tissues.

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“We’ll change barber capes after each customer and have other PPE, including face masks of course. Usually we have a bit crack with the customers, but that might be more difficult.”

Naomi has also attained an industry-recognised qualification in dealing with Covid-19 regulations at work.

She added “We’re going to be so prepared. It’s got to be a smooth transition. No one has ever worked like this before and we’ve had to change our working practices drastically.”

Barbershops and hairdressers everywhere are expected to have to raise prices. The average time for a gent’s cut will be up to 30 minutes when it had previously been 15.

The cost of special germicide used in the industry has doubled. Bottles containing 1.89 litres (about three pints) are being sold online for around £60.

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