A new data analysis has revealed one UK town has seen an unbelievable 83% surge in new hair and beauty businesses since 2020.
As a part of their High Street Trend Report, SumUp, a provider of POS Lite system, has revealed the UK towns and cities leading the charge in new hairdressing and beauty salon openings, by analysing Office for National Statistics (ONS) data from the past five years.
The data makes for interesting reading, however SumUp have not yet given Hairdressers Journal a breakdown of what it defines as a salon opening. We're interested to know the size of the salons, whether they are located on the high street and what the data split is between hair, barbering, beauty or combined salons. We look forward to hearing more. You can read the full report here.
In the meantime, here are the top 10 towns and cities for hairdressing and beauty salon openings.
| 1. | Chatham | 83.3% |
| 2. | Oldham | 77.8% |
| 3. | Watford | 52.9% |
| 4. | Gillingham | 44.4% |
| 5. | Plymouth | 43.5% |
| 6. | Luton | 42.9% |
| 7. | Redditch | 42.9% |
| 8. | Rochdale | 41.75 |
| 9. | Gateshead | 40% |
| 10. | Harlow | 37.5% |
Chatham has been crowned the UK location with the strongest growth in the hair and beauty business sector
Chatham, Kent leads the UK's major towns and cities, with the most hairdressing and beauty business openings, seeing an 83.3% increase in new locations since 2020.
Each month in Chatham there are an average of 2,460 Google searches made for “hairdressers” and related terms, such as “hairdressers near me”.
Oldham is the UK location with the second-highest increase in hairdressing and beauty businesses
Coming in second place with the highest growth hair and beauty businesses in the UK, with a shocking 77.8% increase in new locations since 2020 is Oldham located in Greater Manchester. With 80 beauty-centred businesses registered to an Oldham postcode as of 2024, residents enjoy a wide range of services right on their doorstep.
Watford has seen a 52.9% increase in hairdressing and beauty businesses since 2020
The Hertfordshire town of Watford rounds off the top three UK locations with the highest increase in new hairdressing and beauty businesses since 2020. With a 52.9% increase in store openings, Watford is meeting the local demand as 1,070 Google searches are made each month in the area for “hairdressers near me” and related terms.
In other news
Encouragingly, there are 23,000 Google searches made each month in the UK for “hairdressing courses” and related terms, such as “hairdressing courses near me” – which is a 16% increase from previous years. Does this mean interest in joining the industry is there, and if so – why are we still seeing a shortage of apprentices?
