HJ VOICENOTES

Lizzi Hewitt, Co-Founder of Strand and Lock, shares an insight into the impact of the cost of living crisis on Birmingham city centre

IT’S SO DEMORALISING TO SEE OUR NEIGHBOURING SHOPS CLOSING. THERE HAVE BEEN FOUR CLOSURES IN THE LAST COUPLE OF MONTHS AND IT’S IT'S HEART-BREAKING TO SEE THE BUSINESSES AROUND US SHUTTING.

It’s a constant balancing act with finances at the moment. Strand and Lock is based in the Custard Factory in Birmingham and we’re curly hair specialists. We’ve been in business since November 2019 and it’s fair to say it has been a difficult three and a bit years. The pandemic happened shortly after we opened and now the rise in energy costs and the cost of living crisis has hit us hard.

We are a salon that promotes the curly girl method and our Co-Founder Danny Law has been in the industry for 16 years. He’s booked out three months in advance and although we have increased prices recently, the cost of colour has since gone up again, so we’re going to have to pass that onto customers – just when they don’t need it. People aren’t getting their hair coloured as regularly. We’re not getting vibrant colours anymore. Now it’s a once or twice a year service and clients stay close to their natural shades. Colour services offer the best mark up for us, but we have really noticed that people are spending their money differently.

It’s so demoralising to see our neighbouring shops closing. There have been four closures in the last couple of months and it’s heartbreaking to see the businesses around us shutting. We’re based in the Custard Factory, which is a creative hub of independent shops, bars and restaurants, a short walk from the Bullring. Sadly, the area saw a stabbing on Boxing Day and ongoing roadwor ks have had a huge impact on businesses – events like this have really reduced our walk-ins. I want our Council to do something and fast. Our service charge went up, we’re still paying back our bounce back loan from the pandemic, VAT has returned to 20% and although we did have a Business Rates reduction, that’s gone now – so that’s another £300 a month, as well as a £240 service charge increase. Electricity has risen by £200 a month (it’s now £370 a month for electricity), which considering four out of six days a week there’s only two of us in, is just crazy.

Our business plan has never been about money, money, money – but at the moment we aren’t paying ourselves what we should. I’m looking at doing Airbnb to supplement my income. But I love being with our clients, that moment when they stand up out of the chair and smile at their new look is what I do it for. I’m a people person and I love chatting to clients. It’s very rare that we don’t get a customer who doesn’t say ‘how are you?’ And that’s what we need at the moment, support from our clients. But we need it from our local Council and the Government too.