PM’s roadmap: Nail & beauty businesses could reopen from 12 April

Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has today (22 February) revealed his four-part lockdown exit plan for England, with businesses in the personal care sector expected to reopen from 12 April.

In a statement to the House of Commons, prior to his address to the nation at 7pm, he commented that his roadmap ‘will guide us cautiously yet irreversibly to regain our freedom’ and while ‘the threat remains substantial, we’re able to take these steps because of the resolve of the British public and extraordinary success of the NHS in vaccinating the public.’

Johnson continued: “We cannot escape the fact that lifting lockdown will result in more cases, hospitalisations and sadly more deaths, but this will happen whether lockdown is lifted now or in six or nine months because there will always be vulnerable people.

“We cannot persist indefinitely with restrictions that debilitate our economy and our physical and mental wellbeing. That is why it is crucial that this roadmap is cautious yet irreversible.”

Each stage of Johnson’s four-part plan will be driven by ‘data’ rather than dates. The introduction of each stage will depend on four ‘tests’:

1. The success of the vaccine rollout
2. The number of hospital admissions and deaths falling
3. The amount of pressure on the NHS
4. The impact of any variants.

Johnson continued: “Before taking each step, we will review the data against these tests. It takes at least four weeks for the data to reflect the impact of relaxations in restrictions and we want to give the country a week’s notice before each change, so there will be at least five weeks between each step.”

Dates outlined for each stage are as follows:

• 8 March – public and children from all schools can safely return to face-to-face teaching. Families and childcare bubbles encouraged to be tested regularly, outdoor socialising with one person also permitted
• 29 March – up to a maximum of six people or two households can meet outside. Outdoor sports facilities can reopen
• 12 April – Shops, hairdressers, beauty and nail salons, gyms and outdoor hospitality can reopen.
• 17 May – ‘rule of six’ abolished outdoors and replaced by maximum gatherings of 30 people. Two households can meet indoors, and cinemas, performances and sporting events can restart – including up to 10,000 fans in largest stadiums
• 21 June – all measures potentially end with nightclubs reopened and live events to resume.

The British Beauty Council confirmed to Scratch that stage two – reopening of personal care businesses from 12 April – DOES apply to mobile nail technicians, hairdressers and beauty therapists.

Millie Kendall MBE, CEO of the British Beauty Council, asked the Department of Business, Energy & Industry Strategy directly via a call following Boris Johnson’s 3.30pm statement.

Johnson concluded: “We must always be humble in the face of nature and cautious but I believe that the vaccination programme has dramatically changed the odds in our favour and it is on that basis that we can proceed.”

Click here to read the government’s Covid-19 response report with further details about the roadmap.