How a Beauty Salon Survived Lockdown with No Government Support

Magi Alexander is a celebrity beauty therapist, who has worked in the past with Tom Ford and had her work featured in top worldwide magazines. Hard-working and very passionate about her work, she’s also a mother of two children who are a huge source of her motivation.

Sunday of 22nd of March changed the beauty industry and the way we all work. I could not believe it when I heard UK salons would have to close - what would happen next? I had no plan. Things only went from bad to worse as the lockdown that was meant to last three weeks extended to 4 months for salons and even longer for facial treatments and some areas of the industry.

The lockdown had me evaluate how I could continue with my clients, appointments, training and staff. I struggled with the idea of how my salon could survive, with 16 years left on my salon lease - I couldn’t sell the place or walk away so it was time for a plan B. My customer base wasn’t massive as my salon had only been open for 2 years - but they are a loyal and amazing group.

While I was thinking of my Plan B, I couldn’t sleep or eat - I was worried every day on how I could support my salon and make ends meet. In the end, I decided the most effective method would be to concentrate on my own development - by selling hair and beauty products with home delivery and salon vouchers.

I created a “shellac off” set by Magi Alexander'; a set to safely remove shellac/gel nails without damaging client’s nails. I was distributing the boxes across London with complimentary zoom calls to explain the process and even zoom calls to help clients do their own nails! And the hard work paid off, the salon voucher sales online were very successful, but it still wasn’t enough to cover the rent that my landlord didn’t want to reduce.

I am still patiently waiting for government support. So far, the government has only offered small business rate relief until March 2021 - that’s only 5 months left and after the long lockdown and expenses, it’s not enough (and my self-employed staff went on furlough during lockdown). How can I be expected to so quickly recover from income loss? My income covers rent, service charge, business rates - and a lot of it was invested in PPE equipment to make my salon compliant with close contact government guidelines. While salons are one of the cleanest places you can visit, with top-notch hygiene, we have all taken steps during this pandemic to become extra safe to encourage our clients into our sterile environment. We’ve always worked with gloves, masks and disposable aprons but the extra requirements now have proven to be a huge expense that the government has not provided any support to budget for. Simply put, if you don’t spend hundreds of pounds on PPE equipment from an already heavily affected business, you’re not allowed to operate.

During lockdown, the government advertisement a small business grant for businesses struggling during the pandemic - but when it came to it, despite chasing for months, emailing and calling, I never received an explanation why I was not eligible to receive the business grant. Having run my business and always paid my taxes fully and promptly - I expected support from the government in my hour of need but instead i received empty promises and no substantial help.

I feel let down and disappointed by the government - and even though I am back up and running in the salon, the business hasn’t gone back to pre-lockdown levels. In fact, it’s about 10% of what it was. In this new “normal” I’m using my savings to support my business every month and I have no idea how long, if ever, things will go back to the way they were.

The beauty industry is a forgotten industry, being one of the safest with highest systems of protection in place considering the close contact work we do, the government discards it as unsafe and unnecessary - and pubs are prioritised over us. How are we going to manage going forward? I feel for all beauty professionals, salon owners and hardworking therapists and hairdressers in the beauty and hair industry! The beauty industry is massive and the government have yet to step us and support us adequately.