Hundreds of hairdressers took to the streets outside of Parliament to take part in the Salon Owners and Employers action day on March 17 in central London.
Live Update:
The peaceful protest was organised by the British Hair Consortium and urged the industry to pull together to show its support for tax reform. Hairdressing and beauty salon owners gathered at London’s Parliament Square, in a bid to request that Chancellor Rachel Reeves throws the sector an economic lifeline. It is hoped that the ‘Save Our Salons’ rally will get the attention of Government.
Salon owners and employers have been disproportionately affected by the Autumn Budget, with the changes coming into effect from 1 April. You can read more about the Autumn Budget here.
Hundreds of salon owners, employers and employees turned out. Speaking from the protest Toby Dicker from the British Hair Consortium told Hairdressers Journal: "We're trying to highlight to the Government that this industry needs a levelling of the playing field. If we get a levelling of the playing field our industry can grow, it can get back to the excitement that we've always had."
Gareth Penn, Hair and Barber Council Registrar exclusively told us: "We're here to protest for the first time ever because hairdressers need to be heard. For too long I think we've been taken for granted and it's absolutely awesome to see all these amazing people who've come out on a pretty cold day to get their voice heard. What we want is a bit of respect. We want the Government to start treating us fairly, whether that is through taxation, whether that's through training, we just need to be allowed an opportunity to carry out our amazing trade, to make people look and feel incredible. We just need a bit of support to do it."
National media and news channels attended the protest, streaming the story globally, in what was deemed as a highly successful, peaceful protest.
Protestors were urged to attend the protest wearing black cutting gowns or black uniforms. The slogan for the protest is SOS – Save Our Salons, and signs relaying this message were also encouraged.
Salon owners, employers and employees also brought fold up chairs (and one even brought a styling chair on his back!) and performed hair and beauty services live in front of parliament.
What Is The British Hair Consortium Asking For?
The British Hair Consortium is urging for the whole industry to pull together to elevate the hairdressing industry and show its support for tax reform.
With the Spring Forecast on the horizon, the British Hair Consortium – which represents 50,000 UK hairdressing professionals – says the Government must urgently halve the VAT salons pay on labour costs to 10% to help them overcome the existential crisis they’re facing.
A recent report, commissioned by the British Hair Consortium and carried out by CBI Economics, highlighted how an unbalanced tax system is decimating the hair and beauty industry – and showed that unless things change, there will be no new apprenticeships by 2027 and a 93% fall in employment by 2030. This would leave very few in employment, creating a sector largely devoid of the employment rights that come with being an employee.
For more information on protest and The British Hair Consortium go to www.bhc.org.uk/ @britishhairconsortium #saveoursalons
