With the “coronacoaster” still hurtling through our lives and business plans, we need definitive answers in order to prepare for reopening, writes HELLEN WARD

So here we are, almost two months into lockdown at the time of writing. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced his timeline for reopening (clear as mud) and we’re wrestling our way though pages of guidelines that don’t really give us the answers that we crave in order to open up in July with any real confidence. We are not retail and we are not hospitality; only we know how unique we are.

Not only is there a huge economic and financial worry, especially for those of us with teams looking for strong, decisive leadership, but we’re struggling with a landscape that is unfamiliar territory. One of my team defined it as “the coronacoaster”. Never has our freedom and our right to live our lives as we please been so compromised. So, when trying to rationalise the issues we face, I find it easier to split them into the practical and the emotional.

Practical impact

Practical – how does our sector deliver safe, close-contact services aligning the two very critical factors – distance from service provider to client and duration of contact? Because these are the two key elements we need to consider in order to fulfil our duty of care, not only to the client receiving the service, but to our valued team members, and, of course, other clients who may be in the vicinity.

Definitive guidelines are what we need – how long can our team members be in close contact (with required PPE) with a client in a space of X by X metres? What measures do we need for longer services – extra ventilation? More PPE? What is the ratio? The formula? The algorithm?

Protected and protecting: that has to be the message

Only when we get answers to the above can we define which areas in our salons constitute safe, useable, operative, productive spaces. Then we can work out rotas, operating hours and protection measures, and check our insurance. Protected and protecting: that has to be the message. And for the salons already breaching the guidelines and opening undercover, remember karma is only a bitch if you are.

Emotional impact

But emotionally, the side effects of these restrictions on our free will are far greater. I consider myself very lucky that I’ve never suffered from mental health problems. I know many people do, including some of those I work with.

When I lost my first son, my loved ones were rightly concerned for me. To lose a baby so late on in a pregnancy is one of life’s tragedies. But the odds of what happened were so great (70,000 to one) I decided to think ‘why not me?’, instead of ‘why me?’. Getting pregnant again so quickly (against doctors’ advice) was a great healer. My beautiful, bright and sassy 19-year-old daughter is testament to that and I was later lucky enough to have a gorgeous son too. Time is a great healer but it doesn’t make you forget.

But this situation is different. My parents are struggling to comprehend it. It’s hard to stay optimistic in the midst of such global uncertainty. My advice? Allow yourself a wobble. It’s OK. We’re all scared – for the future, for our financial situations and for how we will come out of this as a family, a sector and a nation.

So, give yourself permission to feel unstable, and (literally) give yourself a hug. Get out into the fresh air and do what makes you feel.

Hellen Ward is managing director of Richard Ward Hair & Metrospa in London, one of the most profitable independent salons in the UK. She is beauty ambassador for the National Hair & Beauty Federation (NHBF).

Send your feedback to hellen@professionalbeauty.co.uk