Peterborough barbers receive over £4000 in donations after business ruined by flooding

Ritzy Hair Studio on Albert Place in the city centre was hit particularly badly when sewers along the A15/Bourges Boulevard were unable to cope with the torrential rain waters.

Pictures taken from just outside the barbers showed an ambulance stuck in high flood waters and many in the Asda car park were left stuck for hours, when high water levels left the roads impassable.

There was particular devastation for the owner of Ritzy Hair Studio. Dan Douglas posted a video showing the water inside the barbers coming up close to knee height, ruining almost all of the equipment inside.

In response to this, he opened a GoFundMe page and has received an incredible response, reaching his £4000 target in just two days.

He said: “After spending years learning my craft and saving for a part of my dream in owning my own barbers, I would never have thought I would find myself in this situation asking for help or ever doing a GoFundMe. Sometimes life hits you with unexpected things that are out of our control.

“I opened up the barbers in October 2020 since then Covid shut my shop down for the majority of the time, the government / council haven’t given me any help as I was too “new” for them to class me as registered business. This almost made me close down straight away but I managed to use savings to live off whilst I couldn’t work.

“Finally, when we were allowed back to work in April, me and the boys at Ritzy Barbers have worked so hard to build up the shop, doing 14 hour days to recoup loss of earnings and spending extra time on marketing.

“Recently there was flooding which damaged our shop and ruined everything and to my despair I feel like I am losing hope.

“I am now back out of work and have to replace everything in the shop which will cost thousands.

“I’m reaching out to everyone for any possible help.

“I am a young entrepreneur that is only trying to make something of myself and to bring a place where different people from the community can come together.

“Within the next year it was my plan to open up an academy which will give people the chance to learn a new skill that could change their life. If you know me you will know how hard I’ve worked to try to change the barber game in Peterborough

“Thank you for taking the time and helping in any way possible.”