MANIFESTO JOINS FORCES WITH CHARITY HAIRCUTS4HOMELESS

Leading barbershop and men’s grooming salon Manifesto has joined forces with the charity Haircuts4Homeless (H4H) to spread the goodwill of its community of skilled hairdressing volunteers even further. The H4H Ambassador Programme is a new way for hair salons, barbers and spas throughout the UK to support the charity. Participating salons will be asked to add £1 to their charge for selected H4H services, which will then go towards a haircut or service for a person in need. Founder of H4H, Stewart Roberts says, “The hairdressing industry is known for its generosity and willingness to help people and now there is another way to get behind this great cause and empower more homeless people to reclaim the selfworth and dignity they deserve.”

CREDIT: MIKE STOKOE, @STOKOECARTOONS

£35,000+
That’s how much companies in the UK hair and beauty sector could save per year adopting technology such as chatbots, automated booking systems and financial reporting, according to a survey commissioned by Yell

INDEPENDENT BARBERS REINVIGORATE HIGH STREETS

Independent barbers and other beauty and grooming services are giving British high streets a glow up, according to new data analysed by SME Insurer, Superscript. In a survey of 1,500 shoppers by Superscript, over half of Brits claim to be more likely to visit a health and beauty shop on the high street than any other type of independent retailer; while 1 in 4 confirmed that hairdressers, barbers and salons will continue to bring them to the high street despite the rising costs of living.

AN UPDATE ON THE STATE OF THE INDUSTRY

The latest NHBF State of the Industry survey findings have shown that after a long, hard two years, the sector is finally showing more positive signs of recovery and levels of business confidence that we first saw in September 2021. Hair & beauty businesses endured a difficult winter and surprisingly slow spring, partly due to the emergence of multiple Omicron COVID 19 variants which led to staff shortages and client absences, due to both illness and fear. The NHBF State of the Industry survey, which took place between 27 June and 8 July this year, shows businesses feeling more confident as they travel on the path to business as usual.

BARBERSHOP/GROOMING SALON OF THE YEAR ANNOUNCED

HJ’s British Hairdressing Business Awards 2022 winners were announced at Park Plaza, Westminster Bridge in London. The event brought the UK professional hairdressing industry together to celebrate the best in the business and saw the biggest names back together again to celebrate those who excelled in the past year.

Manifesto were awarded Barbershop/ Grooming Salon of the Year, Mikey Pearson, Manifesto co-founder commented: “First of all I would like to thank HJ and Jayne for everything they’re doing – they’re incredible. I’d like to thank Julie from Gorgeous PR for all her hard work – this one’s for you, thank you so much!”

HAIRDRESSING INDUSTRY HAS 4TH YOUNGEST OWNERS IN UK

As part of their business statistics report, the financial experts at money.co.uk investigated company and business owner data from Companies House to reveal the sectors with the youngest business owners.

Owners of hairdressing services are among the youngest in the UK, aged 37 years old (on average) during incorporation. The findings further revealed that millennials are leading the UK’s start-up scene across all industries (including hairdressing services), with the median age of founders across Britain ranging from 38 to 40 years old.

Salman Haqqi, personal finance expert in charge of the business statistics page, says “Many young professionals have dreamed of starting their own businesses, but not all get the ball rolling as they fear the unknown - and the daunting ‘myth’ which highlights a start-up failure rate of 90%.”

HEADS UP!

DIARY DATES

8-10 OCTOBER 2022, SALON INTERNATIONAL, LONDON

28 NOVEMBER 2022, HJ’S BRITISH HAIRDRESSING AWARDS, SPONSORED BY SCHWARZKOPF PROFESSIONAL

JULY 2023, BARBERFEST

JULY 2023, MODERN BARBER AWARDS, BRIGHTON

BARBERS OFFER FREE HAIRCUTS FOR SCHOOLS

Back-to-school season is always an expensive time of year, and with the cost of living crisis effecting so many across the UK, many parents are feeling the pressure this year. With that in mind members of the barbering profession stepped up to support their communities by offering free haircuts to kids going back to school.

Less Than Zero Barbers in Chesterfield, The Blind Pig Barbers & Bar in Darlington, Industry Barbers in West Yorkshire, and Route 8 Barbers in Swindon all set up initiatives to support families in need of support.

Less Than Zero Barbers initially decided to offer free haircuts for kids going back to school for one month, however they extended this offer due to being so overwhelmed with families showing an interest.

Owner, Martin Wallis-Keyworth, explained: “We decided to do this as whilst many families are struggling, many have had to turn to food banks for help. It’s these families who we decided to concentrate our help on, but we understand many, many more will need community support, too. We have a reputation for supporting the community that supports us, so this just seemed a natural thing to do.”

Having doubled the number of cuts they initially pledged, The Blind Pig Barbers & Bar decided to leave the offer open to all ages and styles. Owner James Robson said: “Times are extremely tough for a number of families at the moment; with inflation rising, culminating in an increased cost of living, it’ll only get harder. We saw the Kuts 4 Kids Instagram page and thought it was a great idea to give something back to the community within the barbershop.”