BUSINESS owners in Evesham have been welcoming back their customers following the second nationwide lockdown.

Many pubs, restaurants, gyms and non-essential shops opened their doors on Wednesday for the first time in four weeks.

Traders said they were relieved to reopen and looking forward to welcoming back their customers even though the county has been placed in the stricter tier two of the government’s coronavirus restrictions.

Paulina Krukowska, owns Beauty Shadow in Vine Street, and she said she is delighted that she can trade throughout December.

“It’s been hard to wait until this month, so I’m very excited that we have been able to reopen and hopefully it’s the last time we’re going to be closed.

“December is the busiest time of the year and people really want their treatments done before Christmas, so it’s amazing to be back.”

The Card Shop in the high street opened its doors on Wednesday morning.

Owner Belle Haywood, said: “We’re all stocked up and ready for reopening this month, we look forward to serving our customers again, we have missed them, and it has been a very difficult time for everybody, we can only look forward to a better future.”

Lisa Whelan, the owner of Jelly Pickle Jam Tea Shop, says she is looking forward to welcoming back her customers, but that the tier two rules banning households from mixing indoors will impact her business.

She said: “I’m trying to stay positive, but it is a huge hindrance that households can’t mix.”

People tend to want to come out and meet with friends and family who they haven’t seen for a while, but we do have a lot of couples who come in for afternoon tea and things like that so that’s a bit of a saving grace but we really do need people to support local businesses.

“We have really missed people, we’re very much about having a nice social atmosphere and we have a lot of elderly couples that come and meet up and that helps them with the loneliness, so it’s a bit of a lifeline for some people.”

Richard James also reopened the doors of the Lift Up Gym in Vale Business Park.

Richard initially opened the gym at its new premises at the business park in February.

He said the gym has been refurbished and it’s like they have opened a new business, although he says he is is feeling a mixture of excitement and nervousness after the difficulties his business has faced during the pandemic.

“During the first lockdown we lost some of our members and it took six months to recruit that cost of losing those members.

“In November we also lost some of our members so we will have to try to recruit people back in the next few months.

“But we’ll all be pleased to see each other, walking the gym floor is my life really; it’s all I’ve done for the last 15 years and I’m sure our members will be pleased to get back to us as well.”

Alwyn Sullivan, owner of Ye Olde Red Horse in Vine Street, has started a trial period at the pub in light of the rule that pubs and restaurants can only serve alcohol with a ‘substantial’ meal.

She said: “I don’t serve food all the times and I have a lot of old people who come into the pub to see their friends and socialise jut for a couple of pints.

“There’s a lot of elderly people in and around Evesham.

Hopefully it will work with the current restrictions but, if not, I will have to shut my doors because I have a lot of customers who just come in for a few pints.

“We will still have our normal menu and a smaller menu which will be substantial for my other customers which is why it’s a trial period, because if it’s not viable for me I would have to shut my doors again.

“My customers have been very loyal to me for many years, so I have to try to open my doors for them.

“So I’m certainly looking forward to seeing my customers and exchanging words with everyone again, I’m just hoping it’s going to work.”