Rugby salon's phone 'ringing off the hook' as lockdown eases

Helen Taylor runs a salon in Rugby and has been in the beauty industry for 20 years

A beautician says her phone is "ringing off the hook" as lockdown restrictions ease, allowing treatments to resume.

Helen Taylor, who runs a beauty salon in Rugby, Warwickshire, has spent up to £20,000 preparing to reopen.

The salon has "completely changed", she said and to help with social distancing customers will have to wait in their cars before their treatments.

"Close contact" treatments - like facials and eyebrow threading - were banned under lockdown rules for months.

Ms Taylor said her clients were "desperate" to have the therapies, which also includes make-up and eyelash treatments, which will be allowed in England from Saturday.

Helen Taylor Aesthetics was able to reopen two weeks ago for body treatments such as laser hair removal and skin tightening, which the beautician said, has "helped keep the wolves from the door".

"I've been really fortunate," she said.

"For some, they haven't been able to keep going."

The government has issued rules on safety measures for facial treatments

The salon already had a waiting list of about 200 people before the government announced the easing of restrictions and since then "the phone has been ringing off the hook".

"My clients are desperate," Ms Taylor said.

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Ms Taylor said she was excited to resume the treatments but added she was concerned about the future.

She said they had added between 15 to 20 minutes on to every treatment for cleaning, which over the course of a week could cost her up to £1,000 in lost appointment times.

The business has also had to spend thousands of pounds restocking its PPE supply, which it donated to the NHS during lockdown, she said.

Certain safety measures must be followed, including only accepting pre-booked appointments and using screens to protect customers and staff.

"My fear is that we [salons] will be the first to be shut down if cases rise," Ms Taylor said.

"I've no doubt that we've been unfairly treated."

The beautician blamed sexism for the delays in reopening salons, saying "it just identifies how much the government doesn't understand our industry".

The government was criticised in July by a group of MPs for perceived sexism in regards to the beauty industry.

When approached by the BBC, Number 10 declined to comment.