Inverness businesses will be springing back after First Minister Nicola Sturgeon outlined her roadmap for the further easing of coronavirus lockdown restrictions
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
City business owners are gearing up to welcome customers back after dates were set this week for the easing of Scotland’s second national Covid-19 lockdown.
Some were surprised with this week’s announcement by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon as she outlined a timetable for the return to normal life – with some dates for reopenings even earlier than expected.
Alison MacRitchie, who runs the Head Gardener salon in Church Street, said she was a bit shell-shocked when she heard hairdressers should be able to reopen their doors from April 5.
She said she had since been inundated with messages and inquiries from customers.
“We’ve got so many appointments to sort out,” she said.
“Everybody is fine, but it is just going mental. We are just starting to organise it all.”
Mrs MacRitchie said she has a waiting list to work through and was definitely looking forward to being able to reopen.
“It’s really been a long slog and the fact that the business has been closed basically for 56 per cent of the year, it will be quite nice to get back,” she said.
“Everybody I’ve spoken to has found that this lockdown has been quite different as well.”
Dan Moore, who runs Dan Moore Elite Training in Longman Drive, said he was pleased with the announcement that indoor gyms should be able to reopen for individual exercise from April 26
“It’s been a long time, a long year,” he said.
He had kept his business going through running online and outdoors fitness sessions but is definitely looking forward to a proper reopening and greater clarity for the sector.
“I think it’s been a long time coming, but it is the date we had in our mind,” he said.
Conscious of the need to reassure customers that a return to the gym would be safe, he said measures would be in place to control how people moved about the space along with regular sanitising of items used between sessions.
“I don’t really know if there was more we could do,” he said.
Craig MacLeod, who runs Innes Bar in Innes Street, was among publicans looking forward to reopening on April 26.
“I do actually think that we are getting a little bit more than we expected, so that is a good thing,” he said.
Outdoor hospitality with alcohol will be permitted daily until 10pm with indoor hospitality without alcohol allowed until 8pm.
The pub’s outdoor area is currently being rearranged for reopening.
“This is to make it a little bit better, so we will have the indoor and the outdoor areas both open,” he said.
Responding to the announcement of reopening dates – all subject to a continuing drop in the number of coronavirus cases – David Richardson, the Federation of Small Businesses’ Highlands and Islands development manager, said: “Overall, Highland businesses will be pleasantly surprised at the First Minister’s statement.
“We know that tourism and hospitality businesses in particular have been desperate for more clarity so that they can start to plan, and now, while the reopening dates certainly aren’t soon enough for many, we know what should happen if everything goes well.”
