THE sun was shining on Stockton Heath as businesses welcomed back shoppers on a momentous day as the coronavirus restrictions were eased.

Residents returned to stores in the village in glorious conditions on Monday.

As part of step two of the four-step roadmap out of lockdown, non-essential retail and personal care premises such as hairdressers can reopen in England.

Mike Duff, from Riva Menswear, on Walton Road, was delighted to see customers on the first day back.

He said: “It is important that people know we are open again.

“We spent all week in preparation, getting everywhere ready, cleaning every single item.

“This is all brand new stock, all the rails have been cleaned, obviously all the workstations have been cleaned, they are cleaned on a regular basis.

“We have hand sanitisers, we have social distancing in place and of course the other thing is we have to monitor how many people come into the shop, that’s quite important.

Warrington Guardian:

Riva Menswear

“The place is clean and it’s safe – that’s the number one priority.

“Our customers are delighted that we’re open again and there’s been a lot of people as we’ve been doing the preparation, knocking on the window, giving us the thumbs up, looking forward to getting back.

“We’ve got a very good, loyal customer base here and we’re appreciative of the support that we get.”

Mike said the closure of the store has been ‘really difficult’ but emphasised ‘we’re all ready to move on now’.

He added: “It would be nice if weddings came back and it would be nice if foreign holidays came back, but at the moment it’s all good.

“This morning has been a good start. We’ve had a couple of our regulars in, been really keen to get back and a couple of our good, very supportive clients have been in this morning already.”

Ilham’s Barbers has two shops in Warrington – one in Padgate, on Marsh House Lane, and one in Stockton Heath, on London Road.

Ilham Begde owns the Padgate site, with his brother Turan owning the other.

Ilham said the Stockton Heath store was pleased to see the return of customers.

Warrington Guardian:

Stockton Heath

“So far it’s been busy, ticked over, we are very happy,” he said.

“We have masks and gloves and the distance.”

But Ilham expressed concerns over the damage to the business during the coronavirus crisis.

He said: “It has been absolutely horrendous for us, nearly eight months now altogether we have been shut down, no income, just what the Government has given us.

“I’ve been around this game, especially in Warrington, for the last 16 years.”

Cheshire Shoe Repairs, on Walton Road, also enjoyed a steady start to life after reopening.

Andrew Talbot, from the family-run business, said: “It started off quiet for the first half hour then it has picked up a bit, probably not quite as busy as usual yet.

“I think people are probably still a bit hesitant about coming out, maybe expecting a big rush on the first day and they are hanging back a bit.

“We usually have a chair inside that we let people sit down on and wait for their shoes and stuff, obviously that’s been taken away.

Warrington Guardian:

Ste, Ian and Andrew Talbot outside family-run business Cheshire Shoe Repairs

“We’re only allowing two people in the shop at a time, so people are generally having to wait outside for their keys to be cut and stuff like that if it’s going to take more than a couple of minutes and screens are up.

“We have a spray, we can spray the shoes and stuff, to get all the germs off and stuff like that.”

Andrew highlighted the difficulties caused by the pandemic which forced the store to be shut, but he also discussed the company’s presence online.

He said: “It’s been hard in the way of obviously with the shop being shut, you get income from the shop, that’s affected us that way.

“There’s the side of not seeing and not speaking to customers, it makes your day different.

“We have an online side of the business, that’s been alright.

“We specialise in rock climbing boots, now because the rock climbing centres have all been closed, that obviously went a lot quieter but because everyone  was out walking and stuff the hiking boots kind of picked up, so that kind of balanced it out, so the online stuff has probably just been the same as ever really, it’s just the shop that’s suffered.”

Furthermore, Carmella Vale, manageress at Bells and Whistles, said ‘we’re over the moon to be open’.

She added: “It’s been relatively quiet but the people that have come in have all been ecstatic to come in and our regulars. People that have not actually seen it like this before.

“What has been really nice as well, we set up a website because of the lockdown and people have been so supportive. Some people have even made it a point to order something every week.”

Public buildings, including libraries and community centres, are also allowed to reopen as part of the easing of restrictions.

Indoor leisure facilities such as gyms will also reopen but only for use by people on their own or in household groups, as will most outdoor attractions and settings including outdoor hospitality venues, zoos, theme parks, and drive-in cinemas.

For more details on the roadmap out of lockdown visit gov.uk.