Chesterfield children's pamper party business unveils makeover ahead of reopening after a year of being shut

Linzi Marriott, who owns Pampered Princesses in Grassmoor, has installed a flower wall for children to take selfies, put in new flooring and painted the outside of the building on New Street white while the company was forced to close on March 22, 2019.

The mum of two set up the business which provides children and their friends with a birthday pamper on their special day, including foot spas, hair styling, getting their nails done and playing dress up in different princess outfits, in 2017 after she suffered a heart attack while she was 32 weeks pregnant.

Linzi, who was a nursery teacher before setting up Pampered Princess, made a full recovery and gave birth to her daughter, but still has ongoing heart disease problems.

"I just thought I've got this idea, I want to do it and I'm at this point in my life where I never know what is going to happen”, she said.

"It was either do it and risk it and see how it works from the October to the following April when my maternity leave ended and it went fantastic, we couldn't have asked for it to go any better so I didn't bother returning back to nursery and I've carried on doing Pampered Princesses.

"That passion has just continued, we were doing so well and we were literally booked up months in advance before this coronavirus."

The 30-year-old mum of two is optimistic about reopening her doors for the first time in a year, next week and is encouraging parents to book parties in advance as Covid-19 restrictions are set to ease over the next couple of months.

Linzi added: "Now it is just getting the word back out there and trying to build it back up to where it was last year.

"I've got two little girls myself, they've found it so hard not socialising with people.

"We have girls come to these parties and they might be school friends but then they'll have a distant cousin who will come, so it is all about getting them socialised again and really celebrating because some kids had two lockdown birthdays."

New bathrooms have also been fitted at Pampered Princesses, along with a re-done staff room ahead of the business reopening.

There is also a new policy of fully refundable deposits within 48 hours if bookings are unable to go ahead because of coronavirus measures, or parties can be moved to an alternative date.

"I thought let's just do a few changes here and there and then by the end of it, let's do a full makeover and get ready for reopening", she said.

"The come back is better than the set back I say, we've had the biggest set back as a business for a whole year.

"Hairdressers have been able to open inbetween and we haven't.

"I just thought if we're going to come back from this then we need to come back with a bit of a bang."

To enquire about bookings, visit the business’ Facebook page.

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