Businesses in Hereford and Worcestershire feel "forgotten about" in government's lockdown roadmap
Gyms and beauty salons won't open until as early as April
Gyms and beauty salons in Herefordshire and Worcestershire say they feel "forgotten about" in the government's roadmap out of lockdown.
Yesterday, the Prime Minister told MPs it won't be until at least 12 April that beauty salons, hairdressers and gyms can reopen.
It's part of the Government's "cautious but irreversible" plan to ease England out of lockdown.
We've been speaking to business owners who are concerned about how long they have to stay closed for.
Will Loughman, owner of the gym Crossfit Hereford
"The financial support so far has been okay and anything is a help.
"But we've been closed for a long time now and we need more support not just for the couple of months until we can reopen - but even past that. It's not enough.
"Throwing money at people isn't the answer. We haven't really received any information for a business like ours on how to survive and how to provide a service for our customers.
"It's all been off our own backs and doing what's obvious for us.
"I do feel like we've been forgotten about".
"We have a great system in place to make sure everything is recorded and clean. Gyms are some of the best places to record Covid cases so I can't see why we can't reopen sooner.
Olivia Pritchard, owner of Olive Beauty in Worcestershire
"We are forgotten about and we do fall by the wayside because our job isn't of superior importance to the people in Government.
"I do feel like there could be more support for us. I feel like we could be paid the same as furloughed employees every month.
"We could also have a bit more guidance as to what they Government thinks is going to happen to our industry too.
"Are we going to have any clients to come back to? Are we going to be asked to close again because we're not a necessity? Is the financial help going to continue? It;s just all very uncertain.
"Beauty salons are so safe with every single precaution going. Masks, visors, everything is throwaway. Everything is ultra clean and ultra sanitised.
"I really wouldn't like to see us return in stages like they did before, like having some services such as hair and other beauty services.
"That actually affects people's livelihoods more than being closed because you can only then offer limited services and you're running costs overshadow how much you're earning".