A barber in Carnoustie is fully booked for her first post-lockdown shift – which will last a full 24-hours.
Georgia Gaffney, who owns House of Handsome in the town, is all set to tidy up her customers’ lockdown locks from one minute past midnight on Monday (April 5).
Georgia is already fully-booked for the 24-hour shift with clients ready and willing to attend appointments at all hours of the day and night after going without cuts for months.
Hairdressers and barbers were ordered to close along with pubs, restaurants and all non-essential shops and venues when Scotland went back into lockdown on Boxing day.
Earlier this month, the first minister Nicola Sturgeon announced a slight easing of restrictions from April 2, including hairdressers and barbers reopening on April 5.
Georgia said: “I’ll be cutting from 12.01am, Monday April 5, a 24-hour shift right through to 12.01 the next day.
“The last time we went back to work it was a 19-hour shift, this time we’re upping it to 24. It sounded like a good idea at the time!” she laughed.
“The first lockdown was really quite difficult because nobody knew what to do or how to be.
“This time round it has been better because my wife and son have both been at home so we’ve been able to do more together – walks and stuff – so going back this time will be harder!”
Though she will be working to a busy schedule, Georgia says measures are in place to keep customers safe.
She added: “We have an appointment system and have the distancing space taped out and signs on the window so that everyone knows they can’t all pile in. People will have to change the way they come to us usually, the whole family together for example.
“My wife opened a barbers in SkyAxe boxing club in Brook Street, Dundee, in July and we’ve only had that open for about 10 weeks so we’ve not had a chance to have a fair shot at that one yet.
“It was disheartening only having it open for a short time and with a new business you want it to lift off quickly. But this time people are ready to go back to the pubs and looking forward to getting their lives back.
“With SkyAxe, because it is new, people will just be able to go and walk in or get in the socially-distanced queue at first.”
And Georgia has a plan in place for getting through her marathon 24-hour shift – which largely involves plenty of caffeine.
She said: “I’m doing the whole 24-hour shift myself so I’ll need to try to plan in a couple of breaks. The last 19-hour shift I didn’t stop.
“This time I need to take some breaks. The customers in Carnoustie were really great the last time – they were handing in McDonalds, Red Bull, coffees which was a great support.”
