Success Story
| Region/Nation | Yorkshire and Humber |
|---|---|
| Programme | Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) |
| Partner |
Forced to close a new £350,000 salon that opened only four days before the first government lockdown, this business then had to contend with a prolonged period of closure and no revenue from its usual hairdressing services.
But with financial support via the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS), it was able to launch a new web store for its hair products and transfer a large part of its business online.
Read what the business had to say in this BBLS case study.
British Business Bank: Can you tell us what your company does?
Marcello Moccia, owner of Room97 Creative Hairdressing: Room97 is a hairdressing business with three salons, employing 35 people locally. We also work with schools and colleges to provide training as part of school partnership programmes (pre-16) and apprenticeship schemes (post-16), and offer private tutorials and taster and refresher courses for anyone else.
How did COVID-19 affect your business, and why did this mean you needed funding?
We’d opened a new £350,000 salon in Leeds four days before the first lockdown began on 23 March 2020. Obviously, that then had to close! For us to be able to continue trading through the COVID-19 outbreak, we applied for support via the government-backed Bounce Back Loan Scheme.
The Bounce Back Loan was crucial to our investment over the crisis period. We’ve used part of the money to make sure our stylists can return to a workplace that follows all government health and safety guidelines for hairdressers. - Marcello Moccia owner of Room97 Creative Hairdressing
In what way did the funding help your business survive?
Keeping hair tamed was one of the main topics of conversation during lockdown. It felt like the whole nation was discussing how to style their hair at home, and I was on speed dial with many clients who regularly called for advice or in a panic because they couldn’t get an appointment.
The Bounce Back Loan was crucial to our investment over the crisis period. We’ve used part of the money to make sure our stylists can return to a workplace that follows all government health and safety guidelines for hairdressers.
While our in-salon services had to come to a standstill, we launched an online store so the business could continue to offer digital consultations and sell hair products to its customers. The response to the store exceeded our expectations, and we’ve continued to operate this while refocusing on our in-salon experience.
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