Hair salons welcome £19m cash support as covid has severe impact on business

A Paisley hairdresser has welcomed the cash boost announcement for salons after covid decimated its bookings during the festive period.Kaoss Hair and Beauty Salon said the £19million allocated for salons and beauticians would be vital in supporting those impacted by the rapid rise in covid cases in recent weeks.The Gauze Street salon suffered financial losses throughout the month of December following the Scottish Government advice to limit socialising.Christmas nights out were cancelled, leaving restaurants and venues fearing the devastating impact it would have on their business.But another industry which was rocked by the covid restrictions was the hair and beauty industry, with KAOSS salon manager Stephanie Thomson telling the Express how her staff lost a number of clients during what is usually their busiest time of the year.Don't miss the latest headlines from around Renfrewshire.

Sign up to our newsletters here. She said: “I think some people forgot the knock on affect it was having on the beauty industry.“The amount of cancellations we had was horrendous with people testing positive, people isolating and people who just didn’t need their hair done anymore as their night out had been cancelled.“People come to us before their nights out and because of the advice issued by the government, it was the quietest December we have ever had.“Every day our phone was ringing non-stop.

The worst day was December 22, almost the whole day was wiped out.”During her briefing to Scottish Parliament, Nicola Sturgeon announced that £19million would be allocated to close contact industries such as beauticians and hair salons to provide