Gateshead hairdresser charging less than 10 years ago to keep customers coming

A hairdresser has told ITV Tyne Tees she is charging less than she was 10 years ago to try and protect her customers from price rises.

Kirstie Barrass, who owns The Style Lab, told ITV News Tyne Tees that she has had to cut her income to protect customers from price rises, despite the cost of living crisis increasing her costs.

She said: "Now I’m like charging less, a hell of a lot less than I ever was 10 or 15 years ago and, to be fair, I think I’m worth more than that, but I’m having to sort of like keep my prices down. Just trying to keep the customers coming in."

She was one of the small business owners in Gateshead to cautiously welcome some of the small gains announced in the chancellor's budget.

The salon owner said she would have liked VAT slashed or direct grants handed out to small businesses, but is taking the positives from the freeze in energy costs for another three months.

She added: "The fact that the energy prices are being frozen, hopefully I can keep my prices good for my clients, so for every single client that comes in here, I won’t put the prices up."

Kirstie Barrass has had to cut her income to protect customers from price rises. Credit: ITV Tyne Tees

One of her customers, Louise McCoy, is a parent and has been sacrificing putting the heating on when her daughter's not at home or even getting regular hair cuts so she can pay the bills. She said the OBR prediction that inflation will reduce to 2.9% by the end of the year is her most important take home from the budget.

She said: "Not only will food prices go back down, extra curricular things will. Even things like self care, like hairdressers and getting your nails done, like there are so many things that we can all benefit from more if inflation goes down."

At the Station East pub in Gateshead, custom has been dire since the cost of living crisis took hold. Chris McGeary took over managing the pub just three days ago and has a job on his hands to turn things around.

He said: "People can’t afford to go out as much as they used to, so taking over this place now, going forward we’re trying to build a community back up and make this place as affordable as possible in the current climate."

The chancellor announced in the budget that duty on pub pints will be frozen, making the tax 11p less than duty for supermarket alcohol.

Mr McGeary added: "The breweries will receive the benefit of the duty being paid and then hopefully they will pass it on, these savings to the bars and pubs and give us a bit of as kick back and it will let us keep costs down and, once again, pass it onto the punters that want to come in and spend their hard earned money in our bar."

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