STARTING a new business just months before Covid could have spelled disaster for hairdresser Kate Zmuda.

The 46-year-old, wh , with husband Wojciech, is a chef at the Langstrath Country Inn near Keswick, decided she would also like to return to her former profession as a hairdresser.

Kate, who has lived in the UK for 15 years, returned to Poland to retrain.

"I went to Poland because it has a very good hairdressing academy,."

She returned home to Brought Moor, invested in the equipment needed to set up a mobile business and then, just weeks later, had to close everything down because of Covid.

"The first lockdown was not until March but even by February the pandemic was beginning to hit and people started to shut down."

The lockdown also meant that she and her husband were furloughed for the duration of the lockdowns.

Despite these setbacks, Kate is back at work in the hotel and coping with two jobs.

"The inn is very busy. One reason is that so many British people are staying at home and not going overseas this year.

"The other is that the hospitality industry in general is short staffed. That is really because of Brexit."

Despite her busy life as a chef, she is enjoying her return to hairdressing and especially the mobile aspect of her work.

"I would not want to go back into a salon. I enjoy being mobile and I enjoy meeting new people."

She said in some respects, being mobile maybe helped the business.

She was able to easily set up to work between the successive lockdowns.

She also feels that there would still be quite a few customers who were not yet prepared to go into a salon but were happy to have one person in their home.

"It works well and there is really nothing I can't do as a mobile hairdresser than I would be able to do in a salon."

She said hairdressing is pretty universal wherever she trained.

Keeping up that training during lockdown was impossible for her, as it was for everyone.

Now, however, she tries to attend training sessions for new styles and new products at least twice a year.

It is a full time job but she enjoys hard work.

When she does have time off she enjoys walking, reading and spending time with her husand, daughter Eveline who is at university in Liverpool and her younger son Oliver.

Kate's Mobile Hairdressing: 07870 964453