// Superdrug reopens 99 Beauty Studio nail bars and welcomed 245 nail technicians back to work
// However, its brow & lash services cannot reopen yet, as per government guidance
// Brow & lash services account for 86% of the Superdrug services arm
Superdrug has reopened its in-store nail bars, in line with government guidance about what beauty services can resume operation as part of the next phase of the lockdown exit.
The guidance stipulates that nails, waxing and massage therapies in England are able to go ahead but face treatments, including brow and lash threading or waxing, are not yet permitted.
Yesterday, Superdrug reopened 99 Beauty Studio nail bars and welcomed 245 nail technicians back to work.
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However, staff working on the the retailer’s brow and lash services – which account for 86 per cent of the Superdrug services arm – continue to await new government guidelines for reopening.
Superdrug said customer demand for brow services was “at an all-time high” and Google searches were up by 110 per cent since the beginning of lockdown.
In addition, it said the services are already up and running in Northern Ireland and Jersey and have been operating safely with zero complaints for almost a month.
As a result, Superdrug said it was throwing its support behind an industry-wide campaign to have beauty services fully operational again by encouraging social media followers to re-post content and write to local MPs.
Meanwhile, Superdrug said its Beauty Studios are fully Covid-secure, with a host of extra protective measures such as restrictions on the numbers of staff and customers in the studio at any one time, and additional protective equipment for teams like providing masks and gloves.
The health and beauty chain also installed screens in between all treatment stations which are cleaned after every customer while also providing visors for all close contact services.
Superdrug added that it requires customers who have booked in a treatment to complete a declaration form beforehand in order to support the track and trace programme.
“We are extremely confident in all of the additional protective measures we have implemented for beauty services, including new staff training and we are fully prepared to reopen as soon as we are allowed to do so,” Superdrug customer and people director Jo Mackie said.
“We see no reason that brow and lash services can’t operate safely – these services are widely recognised as the most hygienic in the industry with elements for PPE worn as standard pre-Covid.
“We have safely and successfully reopened our Beauty Studios in our other territories, which gives us even more confidence for the UK studios.”
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