UK Salons Struggle as Energy Bills Top 40% of Business Costs

More than a quarter of hairdressers are thinking of closing sites or reducing the size of their salon as stylists struggle with high bills and fewer clients, research suggests.

According to Local Data Company, independently owned hair and beauty salons are struggling more than any other retailers, with 624 salons closing last year compared to the next worst affected sector, newsagents, which saw 225 closures.

Two-fifths of salon owners say they are anxious about the future, with almost a quarter struggling to pay their energy costs and one in five having to ask family and friends for financial help, according to a survey by the comparison site Uswitch.

Our own research, HJ Insider survey, found that xx business owners had considered closing xxx.

The National Hair & Beauty Federation confirmed the findings, reporting that one salon in four was making a loss.

Speaking to the Guardian newspaper, Louise Howard-Long, owner of Architect Hair in Leeds, said her profit margins had already been squeezed by an increase in the price of hair colour and shampoos – as well as refreshments for clients.

“Many of the losses reported by the NHBF are down to unnecessarily high product costs that salons could control. The average salon is spending approximately £15,000 on colour that goes in the bin. But we have salons that have seen their colour costs plummet by as much as 40% once the team started measuring their formulas on a Vish scale,” explained Josh.

“Our technology remembers how much waste was left after the service and will refine the formula so the right quantities are mixed at every future appointment. Salons are also seeing an immediate 15% uplift in revenue as Vish captures previously missed services such as toners, taking the onus away from the stylist to remember every product used during the appointment.”

“Hairdressing wastes 6.8 million tons of colour every year, colour that salons have paid for,” said Josh Howard, CEO of Vish Colour Management. “At a time when the industry is at its most vulnerable, with more businesses closing than in any other industry, it is crucial to bring down costs, and cutting colour waste cuts costs. It is more sustainable than pushing those costs on clients to survive.”