Salon Owners Ask Chancellor to Halve VAT on Hair and Beauty
More than 2,000 salon owners have signed an open letter asking Chancellor John Healey to cut VAT on hair and beauty services from 20% to 10% in this week's Budget. The letter is backed by the British Hair Consortium (BHC).
The consortium argues that rising business costs are putting growing pressure on traditional salon employers. A lower rate, it says, would help businesses take on more staff, invest in training and keep more salons trading on the high street.
Marcus Perkins has run M&M Spa in Quarry Bank, near Brierley Hill, for 22 years, and he is one of the signatories. He says he has trained more than a dozen young people over that time. "Seeing salons close on the high street is very scary," he said. "I'm very scared myself. Luckily it hasn't happened yet but who knows what the future holds?"
Costs and self-employment
Salon owners say they have also been hit by higher wage, pension and National Insurance costs. Ministers have defended the changes to employers' National Insurance contributions and the rise in the minimum wage as part of wider efforts to improve pay, support public services and drive growth.
The industry has also seen more stylists move to self-employed arrangements, with hairdressers often renting a chair inside a salon rather than being employed directly. Perkins believes salons that employ and train staff are increasingly competing with models built around self-employed workers. He calls it an "unlevel playing field", because traditional salons often carry the cost of training the next generation of hairdressers.
The BHC says apprenticeship numbers have fallen sharply and warns the trend could worsen if the pressure on employer-run salons continues.
Training the next generation
Stylist Trearna Hart, 21, is one of those Perkins has trained. She says many of her peers struggled to build careers after leaving college, and that she was fortunate to find an employer willing to invest in her. Perkins said he had spent about £2,000 on courses and travel costs for her training this year alone.
Hart said the number of salons disappearing from high streets was a concern. "At the rate it's going we're not going to have many salons left open and there's no-one going to be able to do hair," she said.
A Treasury spokesperson said hair and beauty businesses play an important role in supporting jobs, apprenticeships and thriving high streets. They added that the sector had benefited from reforms to business rates.
Research from the British Beauty Council highlights the part such businesses play in supporting local high streets, encouraging spending and providing chances for social connection. Dorothy Senior, who has visited M&M for hair and beauty treatments for 20 years, says the salon means more to her than appearances. "Every time I come in I go home feeling so much better," she said.
Source: BBC News