District gets ready to reopen pubs, restaurants and hairdressers

Published: Tuesday, 30th June 2020

With the lockdown easing further, the District’s businesses are preparing to welcome back residents and visitors to pubs, restaurants and those in need of a haircut from Saturday 4 July 2020.

To ensure the safety of returning visitors and staff, businesses that are preparing to reopen their doors for the first time in three months have been working hard to ensure their premises are safe.

Social distancing will be in place with limits on the number of people in their premises, extra cleaning and encouraging customers to pay by card.

Depending the nature of the businesses and the size and layout of their premises, other safety precautions include, changing business hours, PPE for staff, one-way systems and hand-sanitisers.

Sevenoaks District Council has put in place measures to make sure the outdoor environment is safe too. Public hand sanitiser stations and social distancing signs and pavement markings have been put in across Edenbridge, Westerham, Sevenoaks and Swanley. Teams from across the Council have been supporting businesses to comply with the new Government guidance.

Leader of Sevenoaks District Council, Cllr Peter Fleming, says: “It’s been a long wait for our local pubs, restaurants and hair dressers to reopen.

“The impact of Coronavirus has hit the hospitality industry especially hard, but they are rising to the challenge by investing heavily in a range of safety precautions to keep all their customers and staff safe.

“We’ve also been doing our bit to help businesses so they can safely open their doors from 4 July. This includes distributing over £45 million in grants and support, handing out business packs with Covid secure advice and working with businesses directly.

“We want residents and visitors to feel safe returning to the District’s high streets so we’ve put lots of practical measures in place to ensure they feel confident when visiting our town centres.”