The trade association for hairdressers is “initially especially pleased” with the relaxation of the corona measures, and the trade association for beauticians is also very pleased with it. However, the catering industry is less enthusiastic: especially small cafes and restaurants are being squeezed in this way, according to the trade association.
They can open again next week, and that already leaked on Wednesday. The hairdressers have known that, says spokesman Gonny Eussen of the hairdressing sector organization ANKO. The applications already came in on Wednesday. “This is what we hoped for. The measures to work safely come literally from our protocol.”
“That mouth masks are not mandatory has surprised us a bit.”
Hairdressing industry organization ANKO
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Incidentally, not everything was as expected. “That mouth masks are not mandatory has surprised us a bit. But at the same time, the experts also say very clearly: if you follow your protocol, the mouth masks are not necessary.”
The hairdressing industry has the disadvantage that no work can be made up. “We cannot cut faster,” said the spokesperson. Moreover, the 1.5 meter measures mean that there is less room for customers, which means that turnover will be lower than usual. “At the moment, 70 percent of hairdressers have liquidity problems, because the costs simply continue. So there is still extra support to come,” says Eussen.
Beauticians are not faced with the problem of a limited number of customers. “We have the advantage that our treatments often take place one-to-one in a closed cabin anyway,” says a spokesperson for industry organization ANBOS. “In that sense, a lot is possible.”
What is not possible, however, is also catching up with treatments in this sector. This lost turnover of recent months is therefore actually lost for many beauticians.
Horeca: ‘Still bankrupt with a little turnover’
Where contact professions are allowed to press the accelerator again from 11 May, operators of restaurants and cafés have to wait longer. From June they can only get back to work, and then also with such adjustments so that considerably fewer guests can join.
For example, terraces may be open, but it is a condition that guests have their own table and that there is 1.5 meters between those tables. Restaurants and cafes are also allowed to receive people inside, but that is initially limited to a maximum of thirty people with sufficient distance.
“A small café without a terrace can still only receive two or three people.”
Dirk Beljaarts, catering industry association KHN
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For some operators, however, these are numbers that can never be met, says Dirk Beljaarts, director of Koninklijke Horeca Nederland (KHN). “For a small café without a terrace, this still means that only two or three people can enter.”
All in all, Beljaarts is “cautiously positive”, because contrary to the rumors, more than just opening terraces was chosen. After all, the latter would have ensured that many entrepreneurs would win nothing.
But it is still not enough. The support measures must be extended, says the KHN. “Not to be negative, but for 90 percent of the catering industry this is loss-making. Entrepreneurs want nothing more than to open, but with this little bit of turnover you still go bankrupt. The costs continue.”
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