Without the financial support that his independent business received from the government, Soham Barbers would likely have closed for good because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Craig Cox, owner, said that the coronavirus lockdown hit business “really quite hard. Before Covid-19 we were ticking over quite nicely.”

After remaining closed for several months, he said things were “very busy” for the first two weeks after reopening on July 4.

But in the months since, he says it’s been getting “quieter and quieter.

“We are feeling the pinch,” he added, having kept in touch with other independent barber shops.

The financial support from the government, Craig said, was “very helpful in keeping our business open.

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“If it wasn’t for that and them, I’d maybe have been putting a closed sign on the door for good.”

Looking ahead, Craig is just hoping that the pandemic doesn’t last any longer.

“It is hard. We just hope it doesn’t get any worse.”