Latest news with #BritishHairConsortium
The Independent
17-03-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Hairdressers call for tax reform in ‘save our salons' Westminster protest
Hairdressers gathered in Westminster for a protest calling for tax reform in the Spring Statement to 'save our salons'. Protesters wore black cutting gowns and uniforms, with many sitting in fold-up chairs while receiving hair and beauty treatments on Monday in Parliament Square. The British Hair Consortium (BHC) has urged Chancellor Rachel Reeves to address 'structural flaws' in the tax system having a 'disproportionate impact' on the hair and beauty sector. The group wants VAT on labour costs to be cut from 20% to 10% in the Spring Statement. The BHC said the industry faces a 93% employment decline by 2030 without reform, with no new apprenticeships by 2027, 'pushing the industry to the brink of collapse'. It added that a study by CBI Economics found that without intervention, independent salons 'will continue to close, jobs will be lost, and an entire generation of skilled professionals could disappear'. The BHC said the study showed that the sector is far more labour intensive than most other high street businesses, with limited chances to reclaim VAT cost. Signs held by protesters on Monday included 'Give Tax the Chop' and 'Cut the VAT to save jobs'. Discussing the protest, Toby Dicker, co-founder of the BHC, told the PA news agency: 'It was an amazing turnout, 400-plus hairdressers, hair salon owners coming together for the first time to protest about our industry. 'What's next for us is that we're going to continue to forge bringing different business owners together and to create a really positive platform to share what's going on in our industry. 'All we want the Government to understand is that if they don't sit down and talk to us now and understand what's going to happen in the future, then they're going to lose 90,000 employees across our sector and a whole future generation of apprentices.' Mr Dicker added: 'Our industry has been ignored for years and we're calling on the Government to correct decades of mismanagement. 'Most owners haven't had a pay rise in many years and simply can't consider expanding their business, let alone take on an apprentice.' Laura Geary, director at Headmasters, one of the UK's biggest salon groups, said: 'The changes from the last Budget have made it very hard for salons to continue to offer the benefits of employment and we will certainly not be able to take on as many apprentices going forward. 'This will kill the future of our industry.' Denise Thomas, owner of Denise Thomas Hair Salons in Liverpool, said one of the 'biggest challenges' she had faced over the years had been VAT. Ms Thomas, who has been a salon owner for 25 years, added: 'A growing number of salons now operate with chair renters who don't have to pay VAT, which allows them to keep their prices low and creates an uneven playing field. 'If salons like mine continue to be squeezed, they'll become less and less viable, making it even harder for employers like me to secure a stable future.'
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Hairdressers call for tax reform in ‘save our salons' Westminster protest
Hairdressers gathered in Westminster for a protest calling for tax reform in the Spring Statement to 'save our salons'. Protesters wore black cutting gowns and uniforms, with many sitting in fold-up chairs while receiving hair and beauty treatments on Monday in Parliament Square. The British Hair Consortium (BHC) has urged Chancellor Rachel Reeves to address 'structural flaws' in the tax system having a 'disproportionate impact' on the hair and beauty sector. The group wants VAT on labour costs to be cut from 20% to 10% in the Spring Statement. The BHC said the industry faces a 93% employment decline by 2030 without reform, with no new apprenticeships by 2027, 'pushing the industry to the brink of collapse'. It added that a study by CBI Economics found that without intervention, independent salons 'will continue to close, jobs will be lost, and an entire generation of skilled professionals could disappear'. The BHC said the study showed that the sector is far more labour intensive than most other high street businesses, with limited chances to reclaim VAT cost. Signs held by protesters on Monday included 'Give Tax the Chop' and 'Cut the VAT to save jobs'. Discussing the protest, Toby Dicker, co-founder of the BHC, told the PA news agency: 'It was an amazing turnout, 400-plus hairdressers, hair salon owners coming together for the first time to protest about our industry. 'What's next for us is that we're going to continue to forge bringing different business owners together and to create a really positive platform to share what's going on in our industry. 'All we want the Government to understand is that if they don't sit down and talk to us now and understand what's going to happen in the future, then they're going to lose 90,000 employees across our sector and a whole future generation of apprentices.' Mr Dicker added: 'Our industry has been ignored for years and we're calling on the Government to correct decades of mismanagement. 'Most owners haven't had a pay rise in many years and simply can't consider expanding their business, let alone take on an apprentice.' Laura Geary, director at Headmasters, one of the UK's biggest salon groups, said: 'The changes from the last Budget have made it very hard for salons to continue to offer the benefits of employment and we will certainly not be able to take on as many apprentices going forward. 'This will kill the future of our industry.' Denise Thomas, owner of Denise Thomas Hair Salons in Liverpool, said one of the 'biggest challenges' she had faced over the years had been VAT. Ms Thomas, who has been a salon owner for 25 years, added: 'A growing number of salons now operate with chair renters who don't have to pay VAT, which allows them to keep their prices low and creates an uneven playing field. 'If salons like mine continue to be squeezed, they'll become less and less viable, making it even harder for employers like me to secure a stable future.'
BBC News
23-02-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Hornchurch: Hair salon owner calls for government support
"We don't have the margin with the new taxation to actually invest in the future of the industry," says Kerry Larcher, the owner of a hair salon in east is one of many hair and beauty salon owners who say they cannot afford to take on apprentices following the 2024 Budget."The government's decisions in October will cost me over £1,000 a week," Ms Larcher said. "I have 36 employees and 12 of which are apprentices. We normally take about four to five apprentices year. This year we're considering not taking any." The British Hair Consortium – which represents 50,000 UK hairdressing professionals – is calling on the government to halve the VAT salons pay on labour costs to 10%.Salons pay VAT at 20% like most businesses but the British Hair Consortium argues because the work they do is so labour intensive as opposed to selling products, they have less of a chance to make back those to keep costs low, it says an increasing number of salons are opting to rent chairs instead of employing stylists to avoid paying the tax.A report by CBI Economics found that is likely to have a knock-on effect on opportunities for apprentices.A HM Treasury spokesperson said they were "levelling the playing field" for high street businesses, including hairdressers, by permanently cutting business rates. 'Costs are escalating' Ms Larcher runs her business, The Vanilla Room hairdressers in Hornchurch, by having employed says by having the two business models "taxed completely differently" creates an uneven playing field."It's not that we want to not pay our way," she said."It's that we want an even playing field and actually proper regulation."That would mean that we could invest in apprentices further in the future."The biggest problem that my employed business model is having is how do we employ apprentices when the costs are escalating?" A report from independent consultancy CBI Economics found that the labour-intensive nature of hair salons meant they were impacted by taxes three times as much as other high street said that by 2027 there may be no new apprenticeships offered and direct employment could drop 93% by 2030, due to the costs. Toby Dicker, co-founder of the British Hair Consortium, said: "A 'one size fits all' tax system doesn't work and has created an unlevel playing field. "Increasing numbers of owners are either closing their salons or changing their employment practices and are renting chairs to contractors just to survive."Mr Dicker said cutting VAT to 10% would "save salons across the country". A spokesperson for the Treasury said they were removing the £110,000 business rates relief cap for more than 280,000 retail, hospitality and leisure business properties.
BBC News
19-02-2025
- Business
- BBC News
'Perfect storm' could see end of salon apprenticeships
Salon owners are warning they might not be able to take on any new apprentices within two years due to financial British Hair Consortium, which represents 50,000 hairdressing professionals, is calling on the government to make changes to how they are taxed, saying the current system poses an "existential crisis".Apprentices have told BBC Newsbeat the schemes are an important opportunity for people who don't want to pursue further government has been approached for comment but did not respond. Salons pay VAT at 20% like most businesses but the British Hair Consortium say because the work they do is so labour intensive as opposed to selling products, they have less of a chance to make back those to keep costs low, it says an increasing number of salons are opting to rent chairs instead of employing stylists to avoid paying the tax.A report by CBI Economics found that is likely to have a knock-on effect on opportunities for estimates that by 2027 there "may be no new apprenticeships offered and direct employment could plummet by 93% by 2030". 'Crippling a lot of salons' For 22-year-old apprentice Alex Ritchie, "it's quite scary knowing that people won't get that opportunity that we get".She's training in Darlington, County Durham, and dreams of having her own salon one day but worries that without apprentices, the industry will really struggle."You can't run a salon without having apprentices," she says."They are your main support when you're doing clients. It will have a massive impact on the amount of salons and how many clients they can take."Jezz Ellis is head of operations for Saks, a chain of salons in the north east of England, and says that unless things change, hairdressing apprenticeships will become less are facing a "perfect storm" he says, which will impact how many apprentices they can afford to train."You've got the VAT issue which has always been difficult."But there is also the growing issue of insecure or "disguised" employment resulting from fewer staff jobs being offered. This means while they might work to a salon's rules and be treated like an employee, they're actually self-employed so miss out on benefits like sick pay, maternity pay and pensions."And with National Insurance going up and a national minimum wage increase, it's making it very difficult for those salons to increase their prices to meet the extra costs. "All of those things added together is just crippling a lot of salons," Jezz says. For Adam Hussain, who's working towards his level two apprenticeship in hairdressing, the benefits are big for people like him."Without this apprenticeship, I wouldn't be where I am today," he says. "I'd probably be doing God knows what."Apprenticeships are really good - you get paid to learn, you're learning on the job, it's a very hands-on career." The British Hair Consortium wants the government to act quickly ahead of the spring forecast on 26 March, where the Chancellor Rachel Reeves will lay out economic plans for the future. Although the government did not respond to Newsbeat's request for comment, the Department for Education has previously said it was time apprenticeships were taken seriously. Last week it announced changes which will allow employers to decide whether or not a Maths and English qualification is needed to apply for some apprenticeships. Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays - or listen back here.
