77% of the National Hair and Beauty Federation members say they feel “very prepared/prepared” to reopen now. Here’s one of many examples of how UK salon and L’Oréal partner, Gatsby & Miller, have been busy getting organised and making modifications for a safe reopening after lockdown that accounts for every step of the client in-salon journey.

Gatsby & Miller: The NEW 7 Steps of the Client In-salon Journey

1. Arriving at the salon
   Gatsby & Miller will be optimising a digital screen in their window to display important messaging for clients so they know what to expect before they enter the salon, with reminders about social distancing and new hygiene measures for client safety.
2. Check-in & reception
   Gatsby & Miller has installed a protective screen at the reception desk and will avoid congestion by ensuring a streamlined appointment flow and ask clients to move in one direction around the salon. One dedicated stylist will welcome clients and they will remain with this one stylist throughout the salon visit to help limit risk. Signage will be used to explain how the new client journey will run before the appointment begins. Stylists will be wearing personal protective equipment (masks and gloves) and will encourage clients to also wear a protective mask throughout the appointment. However, the salon will adapt rules in accordance with government guidelines. . Client PPE packs will also be given as well as disposable items being as eco-conscious as possible.
3. Consultation
   Stylists will conduct short consultations in-salon or virtually prior to appointments to reduce the amount of time that clients will spend in the salon. Gatsby & Miller have been offering virtual consultations throughout lockdown very successfully.
4. Backwash
   Gatsby & Miller has installed protective screens at the backwash and will be observing social distancing by blocking off some backwash stations, and each backwash station will be cleaned and disinfected after each appointment.
5. Client Services
   Gatsby & Miller has a large spacious salon, which they have mapped and adapted to ensure that all clients and stylists will observe social distancing. If needed, the salon will also use protective screens between styling stations.
6. Retail
   Gatsby & Miller has removed all product testers. The salon will use signage in retail areas and around the salon asking clients not to touch products. If a client wishes to purchase a product, they will let their stylist know, who will wipe products down before placing in a bag for the client to take home at the end of the appointment.
7. Check-out
   Gatsby & Miller will be accepting contactless card payments and no cash. Contactless payments will be taken at styling stations and at the reception desk to help streamline appointments. The salon are also looking into online pre-paid appointments. The salon will rebook appointments at the styling station before clients leave. All touchpoints of each client appointment and all tools used will be cleaned and disinfected after each appointment.

Dawn Montgomery, Gatsby & Miller, Salon Manager

“We have been working on reorganising and modifying the salon for a number of weeks and we feel confident to reopen safely anytime from now. We have been taking note from salons reopening in Europe as inspiration, alongside helpful recommendations from our partners, L’Oréal and their Back to Business Salon Support Guide.

“We have sourced and secured the personal protective equipment that we may require for our team, whilst we await any official government guidance. The safety and wellbeing of our clients and team is our number one priority and throughout lockdown, we have increased communication with both parties to ensure everyone feels ready, confident and prepared for what to expect from the new in-salon journey.

“We are ready to open now and once we have the date, we will be booking a team-training day before commencing client appointments to walk the team through every new protocol that we are implementing. We will also be investing in a Risk Assessment expert to check the new modified salon environment and protocols so that we can be extra confident.

“We know that both the team and the clients are looking forward to going back into the salon; with the level of weekly communication, they know how thoroughly we and other hair salons are planning a safe reopening that caters for the highest standards of health and safety, whilst still delivering an enjoyable and relaxing experience.”

Beatrice Dautzenberg, Managing Director of the L’Oréal Professional Products Division,

“This crisis has been a challenging period for everyone and we have been providing as much support as we can for our salon partners to prepare to safely re-open. In fact, we have designed an E-learning to help train all hairdressers and salons on hygiene and safety, available on our L’Oréal Access online education platform in the coming days.

“The past few months have provided us with even greater awareness of the importance of our hairdressers (over 250, 000 in the UK) who are the beating heart of the community – and the demand from consumers for hair salons reopening is high. Hairdressing is the single largest contributor to the British Beauty Economy valued at GDP c. £6 billion, and salons play an integral part in communities and boost consumer wellbeing. As a committed partner to the industry, L’Oréal is proud to help our network of salons to re-open safely and to support the wellbeing of our employees, salon partners and consumers.”

Luxury Family Hotelsis pledging to open its hotels exclusively to NHS workers and their families post lockdown as a very special thank you for their hard work and commitment throughout the Coronavirus pandemic.

The hotel group is promising a total of up to 150 parents and their children a free overnight stay in all of its five hotels as part of its support for the #treatourNHS initiative.  Stays will also include complimentary breakfast for families and access to all the hotels’ facilities including OFSTED registered crèches (in line with the latest Government advice).

The #treatourNHS initiative, created by Sarah Bowman, owner of The Hayloft in Devon, is seeing accommodation owners across the UK pledge stays in hotels, eco lodges and cottages to NHS workers. 

Simon Maguire, MD of Luxury Family Hotels, said: “Our ethos is all about making time for the little things, so as a way of saying thank you to the heroes working on the frontline, we will be offering NHS staff the opportunity of spending quality time with their family and loved ones which they might not have been able to do throughout the lockdown period. “

Luxury Family Hotels will be offering a complimentary overnight stay on a B&B basis for up to 75 NHS families across its five hotels*. That will equate to 15 rooms per hotel available on the night before they re-open to the public (dates are yet to be confirmed in line with Government guidelines).

Participating hotels will include:

• The Ickworth in Suffolk;
• Woolley Grange in Bradford on Avon;
• Moonfleet Manor in Dorset;
• New Park Manor in the New Forest;
• Fowey Hall Hotel in Cornwall.

Further details will be released once there is a clear date for re-opening on Luxury Family Hotels’ social media with a link through to a landing page on the Luxury Family Hotels’ website with more details on the booking process and conditions.

Families will be selected on a first come, first served basis, cementing Luxury Family Hotels’ corporate social responsibility efforts.

Final conditions for NHS workers and their immediate family to be confirmed at a later date but will include a valid NHS Identity Card which will need to be shown upon arrival. 

For more information/bookings visit www.luxuryfamilyhotels.co.uk

London, 16 April 2020 – In ongoing support of the fight against coronavirus, L’Oréal UK and Ireland is implementing a series of measures for communities most impacted by the crisis. The group and its family of brands will donate more than half a million hygiene products and hand sanitisers to frontline healthcare workers in UK and Ireland serving the most vulnerable people and striving to curb the pandemic.

The group will donate a further 300,000 hand sanitisers to frontline retail staff that is ensuring availability of essential goods and services to communities across UK and Ireland. These products will be provided completely free of charge. This commitment builds on the L’Oréal Group’s wider European solidarity programme announced globally on 18 March.

Together, L’Oréal UK & Ireland will:

• Donate 400,000 hygiene & care products to frontline healthcare workers: in partnership with In Kind Direct and Blue Light Card, we will provide 400,000 body wash, hand creams, conditioner, shampoo and skincare products to hospital workers in the UK and Ireland. This includes products from L’Oréal Paris, Garnier, Kiehl’s, Lancôme, Urban Decay, YSL, House 99, L’Oréal Paris Men Expert, La Roche-Posay, CeraVe, Vichy, Roger and Gallet, Baxter of California, Kerastase, Redken, Matrix and Decleor;
• Donate 100,000 Hand Sanitisers to support NHS and HSE: we will distribute 100,000 La Roche Posay-manufactured hand sanitisers to frontline healthcare workers in the NHS and HSE;
• Donate 10,000 Examination Gloves to the London Ambulance Service: we will donate 10,000 boxed sterile examination gloves to the London Ambulance Service through the L’Oréal Young Scientist Centre at the Royal Institute;
• Support small businesses: L’Oréal UK and Ireland has frozen the payments of our most vulnerable very small and small-sized customers in our distribution network, including hair salons, until their businesses resume. Additionally, L’Oréal UK and Ireland has shortened its payment times for small suppliers who have been most exposed to this economic crisis;
• Protect pharmacy and food distribution workers: Garnier will give 300,000 free bottles of the new Garnier Pure Active Hand Sanitiser Gel to essential retail staff working at Boots, Tesco, ASDA, Sainsbury’s and Irish retailer Dunnes Stores, helping to protect themselves from COVID-19;

Vismay Sharma, L’Oréal UK and Ireland Country Managing Director, commented:

“At L’Oréal UK & Ireland we feel a strong sense of responsibility to support relief efforts for the most vulnerable during this unprecedented crisis. The frontline healthcare workers and retail staff are doing an incredible job looking after the sick and providing essential products and services to communities. We feel honoured to be able to provide them with hand sanitisers and key hygiene products. We believe in the beauty of community and are proud to contribute to the needs of our heroic NHS and HSE staff, and those on the retail frontlines across the UK & Ireland.”