Real Housewives’ Ampika Pickston devastated after government u-turn as she cancels 6 weeks of work
Real Housewives of Cheshire salon owner Ampika Pickston has been forced to cancel six weeks of appointments following a government u-turn on close-contact beauty treatments in Manchester
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Real Housewives of Cheshire star Ampika Pickston has been forced to cancel six weeks of appointments due to a government u-turn.
The reality star, 39, owns regular show location and salon Ampika’s Hair and Beauty, which is based in Altrincham, Manchester.
The star has been forced to cancel six weeks’ worth of business following Prime Minister Boris Johnson delaying the easing of lockdown restrictions.
The beauty services are mostly close-contact treatments such as botox-fillers and facials, which were due to start again today but now will not until August 15 at the very earliest.
As a result of the change, Ampika has been forced to cancel six weeks’ worth of business, leaving her devastated.
The Real Housewives of Cheshire star told BBC Breakfast: “I literally can’t believe it, we were back-to-back for the next six weeks for clients having facials, eyelash treatments, microblading of the eyebrows, injectible botox fillers.
“All of those clients we’ve had to cancel, unfortunately.”
She continued: “We’ve had a lot of angry clients, we’ve had a lot of frustrated clients; we feel really frustrated because on the 15th of August, we still might not be able to resume business as usual, so my turnover is down by 70 per cent and I can’t see us picking back up, definitely not before Christmas.”
Ampika revealed that there is nothing more she and other entrepreneurs in her situation can do to protect customers against Covid-19.
She explained: “Before anyone enters the building we do a forehead temperature check, they also sign a release form to say they’ve not had any Covid symptoms in the last two weeks, we make sure that every area is sanitised every 15 minutes,’ she said.
“Every member of my staff is wearing a visor or a mask, there’s hand sanitiser as well as all their equipment.
“We cannot go any further than the safety measures we’ve already put into place.”
Another sore point of the government u-turn was the extremely short notice that businesses were told to adjust to the restrictions.
Ampika noted: “If we’d have known two weeks in advance we can always put these safety measures into place, but less than 24 hours as two clients are about to walk through the door, I’ve got therapists at home not earning any money, angry clients, people that are frustrated.”
The entire debacle has left the reality star feeling pessimistic about the future.
“I cannot see light at the end of the tunnel,” concluded Ampika. “It’s extremely disappointing as a business owner.”
While her salon has been closed, Ampika has taken to selling sexy pictures of herself on OnlyFans after encouragement from her partner.
The Prime Minister’s delay on easing lockdown restrictions will cause issues for the economic recovery of the UK.
However, the doubling of infection rates throughout July has meant the government and scientific advisors are concerned of a ‘second wave’ in a peak of cases.
Do you agree with Ampika? Let us know in the comments below.
MirrorCeleb