‘Hairdressers do not get most damage from lockdown’ | Financial

ANKO believes that the “generous support” by the previous cabinet has not been fulfilled and advocates better support. “This is a very deep wound that will not heal for the time being, unless the new cabinet takes action,” said ANKO chairman Maurice Crusio.

Hairdressers have had to use their own savings and pension pots to keep their heads above water and have also borrowed money and postponed payments, Crusio says. “The margins in our industry are small and it will take many years before those jars are filled again, if that works at all! To be honest, without real support from the government, we are looking bleak.”

Busy month

The fact that the aid is so sparse is partly due to the way in which it is calculated. For example, December is a busy month for hairdressers with most of the turnover falling in the closing quarter, but because the lockdown only partly fell during this month, it is difficult for many hairdressers to meet the required turnover loss of 20% or 30% in the quarter. ANKO indicates. At the end of 2020 there was a similar problem.

In addition, subsidies are only given for salaries and fixed costs. The entrepreneurs themselves, who also earned nothing, received no support and still had to continue to pay their food and rent or mortgage. In total, the hairdressers have been closed for 22 weeks or 5 months, the trade association calculates. Nearly 30,000 hairdressers earned nothing during that period.

Crusio therefore wants politicians to take a closer look at the support offered. “Now that the figures increasingly show that the support package is far from generous, we call on the cabinet to review the total damage and come up with solutions that really benefit all entrepreneurs, now and in the future.”

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