Budget not all bad for salon businesses

For once Britain's salon industry and the small business community in general seems to have a predominantly positive reaction to the Budget - with a few reservations.

Highlights included the abolition of 43 complex tax reliefs and the removal of more than 100 pages from UK tax codes; the loss of £350 million worth of new business rate regulations; the doubling of Entrepreneurs Relief to £10million from 6 April; the extension the new regulations holiday for small firms for another year; and the creation of 100,000 places over next two years on new work experience scheme plus up to 50,000 more apprenticeships.

Said National Hairdressers' Federation president, Mark Coray: "We welcome the Government's commitment to extending apprenticeships, although we would have liked the Chancellor to have gone even further and removed the current age limits on the Apprentices national minimum wage.

It was vital, however, that training providers and ministers listen to employers about the care skills young people need, said Mark.

Hellen Ward, co-owner of Richard Ward Hair & Metrospa in London's Chelsea also welcome investment in apprenticeships and, cautiously welcomes the proposed work experience scheme.

"I am interested to see how the new work experience scheme will work and encouraged that the Government is focusing on apprenticeships - we, as an industry, have always seen the value of apprenticeships."

Alan Stewart co-owner of Scottish salon group, of Rainbow Room International welcomes several of the Budget announcements: "Simplifying the tax system and the exemption of start-up businesses from new business rate regulations for three years are steps in the right direction. Any deregulation is good; all businesses are being burdened more and more by regulation and this Government seems to have a much more common sense approach than the last."

Malcolm MacNeil, managing partner, Ishoka Hair and Beauty, Aberdeen is particularly enthusiastic about the increase in entrepreneurs relief. "I am extremely pleased that the entrepreneurs relief will double in size to £10million as I feel this will encourage businesses to invest their money back into the UK economy," he said. "The past few years have been very testing for small businesses and it finally seems like things are starting to pick up."

Ben Dellicompagni, managing director of Midlands-based Francesco Group was not "wimncing in pain as expected following the Budget: "There is some good news for lower income earners and some good news for company's and what they pay in corporation tax.  However, the Government's cost cutting programme will not be changed and hence for our industry this creates a lot of unrest for customers who work in the public sector and I am sure for the majority of us the public sector represents your largest local employer.  Until we are through this period I see no real good news for our industry and the message from Francesco Group has certainly not changed - we must work harder and smarter to ensure the continued success in our expanding network of 37 salons."

Michael Van Clarke had a more cynical reaction to promises regarding apprentices.

"The concept of 50,000 apprentice places sounds laudable in a vote-catching way.  But it's just layering further tiers on a complicated structure.  This system keeps more people out of work but employs more statisticians to run the system.  If Government just got out of the way apprenticeships would be the natural order of things as they always used to be."