FOR Cocoon Health and Beauty owner Carmel McElroy, Stormont’s
announcement came as a “knife through the heart.”
Speaking to the Herald, the Lisnaskea business woman and mother-of-one
revealed, “We were closed for four months and to think that now we are
faced with at least another month is heartbreaking.
“The short notice meant that myself and staff worked late last week to try and fit in as many clients as we could. I have a small baby at home, and by the time I was finished each night he was in bed.
“It’s as if all our hard work has went unnoticed. We’ve done everything we could, we followed the guidelines step by step.
“Extra money was spent providing staff and the premises with full PPE and we made sure that the number of clients entering and leaving the premises was closely monitored, so I don’t know why they’ve decided to
close hairdressers and beauticians.”
Carmel added, “It’s simply not fair and what’s worse is that there’s absolutely no help. We will have to wait at least two weeks before a scheme has been put in place for us.
“For myself like many others I still have a mortgage to pay, I still have bills separate from my business. How are people meant to cope?
“They should be supporting business owners who have tried everything
in their power to make a difference and create something exciting in their local area, something that everyone can benefit from.”
Speaking on the possibility that current restrictions could be extended past the four week mark, Carmel said, “What has really got me in bad humour is the way they took our summer away from us which was our busiest time.
“We’re just back up on our feet again and getting control of appointments after what was such a major backlog and now this has happened to us again.
“November and December is equally as busy and like many other businesses the success of our months leading up to Christmas is what
gets us by the quieter months of January and February financially. I just don’t know what will happen.”
To read more on this story see this week’s Fermanagh Herald. Can’t get to the shop to collect your copy? No problem! You can download a copy straight to your device by following this link https://bit.ly/3gOl8G0
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