It's been a long wait but many businesses will welcome back customers this weekend after more than three months in lockdown.

After Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the most significant easing measures since the crisis gripped the nation, owners and managers in Gravesend are gearing up to welcome customers back again on Saturday.

Pubs, restaurants, hotels, hairdressers, wedding venues, churches, cinemas, theme parks, zoos and many other businesses are set to open but while adhering to strict social distancing rules, safety checks and cleaning regimes to make sure people feel safe returning.

Steve Rose, owner of The Salon K&L, in Pelham Road, Gravesend, said the business was excited for reopening and treating customers.

He said: "We are so excited to welcome everyone back and looking forward to making all our customers look amazing again after such a long and difficult time.

"We will be keeping everyone safe with PPE, disinfecting the salon before and after every appointment and advising people card payment is preferred.

"All our services will be available with a few added extras. Our new therapist will be doing eye lashes, nails and spray tans will be available from August, in our new beauty treatment room.

"We are so excited to welcome everyone back."

"We will have all our original staff returning with a couple of extra members delivering you a five-star service."

Mr Rose added the salon was happy to be opening, but insisted the safety of staff and customers was a number one priority.

"We will constantly adapt and follow guidelines to this," he added.

Jackie Mathis – who has owned JM Hairdressing in Dover Road East, Northfleet, for 20 years – revealed the pandemic meant the business lost around £80,000 in revenue.

She said: "I am excited to be able to open up again although quite nervous at the same time. We were expecting hair salons to open on July 4 but we also have a beauty room here which won’t be able to open because of the very close contact with the clients.

"It’s about the right time for salons to open, if they have everything in place as we do. We have a big team of 10 and clients to look after and that’s a big responsibility when we are coming out of the pandemic.

"We have put everything in place as recommended by the National Hair and Beauty Federation who have been working closely with the government throughout lockdown to ensure their members have the right guidance.

"We have installed hand wash basins and bought masks and disposable towels for our clients. We have also bought face visors for our team and have hand sanitizers dotted all over the salon.

"Unfortunately we are unable to serve tea, coffees, cappuccinos and lattes for a while – which our clients love – but they can bring their own.

"We also will not have the usual magazines and papers for clients to read but they can bring their own."

"We have more than 300 people on our waiting list who we had to cancel before lockdown."

Jackie said because of safety measures the salon would look very bare, but will be spotless.

She added that her team had been divided into two as a precaution, in case anyone becomes ill and they have to self isolate.

Despite being closed for so long the salon owner revealed they have a huge waiting list.

"We have more than 300 people on our waiting list who we had to cancel before lockdown.

"The team have enjoyed their time off on furlough but are looking forward to seeing their clients again. They will have so much to catch up on, however the guidance is to keep the chats to a minimum.

"Our new normal will be using alternate styling chairs, observing the correct distancing, and wearing visors. Clients will be asked to wait outside until their stylist is ready, and to come in alone.

"How long this new normal will last no one knows. We will be taking each day as it comes and hope our business can survive this."

Meanwhile, pubs will be able to reopen from July 4 but the way punters drink in their local boozers will change dramatically from pre-lockdown measures of propping up the bar in close proximity to one another.

The Goose in King Street says its first priority is maintaining the safety of staff and additional training is being introduced for them.

Managers are busy preparing the bar to "safely welcome back our customers" but with reduced capacity, a spokesman from the pub said.

These include "clear social distancing measures and enhanced cleaning" and also an app for people to order food and drink to the table.

The bar area is being revised along with single-use menus, contactless payment and hand sanitiser located throughout the town centre venue.

The team is also hoping to provide additional space by "pedestrianising the outside area" of the pub.

A booking system will be in place, which many pubs have been told to introduce to manage capacity.

Wedding administrator Amelia Whitmore confirmed no weddings will take place at Little Hermitage, in Higham, near Rochester, this weekend with the next one not planned until the end of August.

She said: "It has been difficult. We have had to change most of our weddings until the end of August and into September.

"It is an uncertain time and we have got to take advice from the council on how we can return.

"Our guidance is from the council and they will let us know what we can and can't do."

The wedding host said social distancing measures and hand sanitiser would no doubt form the cornerstone of any restart but in the absence of more specific guidance it would not be safe to proceed.

In the meantime the venue is reading the guidelines and trying to work through its backlog of guests who have had to postpone.

"We have offered all our wedding couples new dates," Amelia said.

Many have taken up these offers she says while others just want to marry as soon as possible, regardless of the numbers who can attend.

"We have one couple at the end of August. They have changed their wedding seven times so they are adamant. They just want to be married now."

Among those who have pushed back their big day until next year is Northfleet couple Rebecca Daniels, 28, and Jamie Hart, 27.

The couple, who work as insurance brokers, had booked Little Hermitage and planned to celebrate their nuptials outside in the garden gazebo on August 22 and were given a reserve date in October if that fell through.

In total, they plan to host 75 people on the day with that number rising to 120 for the evening but in the absence of clearer guidance on what their wedding might look like, they felt they were left in limbo.

Rebecca even appeared via video link at the daily government briefing last month to seek further guidance from Health Secretary Matt Hancock.

However, she was left deflated by the response which did not give any indication as to what her big day might look like.

One of her bridesmaids also works in an ITU ward on the coronavirus frontline.

"Am I going to have to wear a mask?" she said.

"For photographs we can't stand next to each other so are there going to be gaps?

"We feel bad with everything going on in the world," she said. "We feel bad about our wedding."

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