NHBF Introduces Manifesto 2024 at Parliamentary Event
The National Hair & Beauty Federation (NHBF) has unveiled its 'Manifesto 2024' at a parliamentary event hosted by Caroline Nokes MP and attended by NHBF board members, MPs and key industry leaders.
The Manifesto highlights the vital role the hair and beauty sector play in creating jobs, supporting communities and promoting wellbeing across the UK. With 49,000 hair and beauty businesses across the UK, predominantly small and micro, generating a combined turnover of £4.6 billion in 2023 with consumer spending across the whole sector totalling £24.5 billion, the sector contributes billions annually to the economy.
Key priorities outlined in the Manifesto 2024 include:
Health and Wellbeing: Encourage social prescribing, enabling GPs, nurses and other primary care professionals to refer people to a range of local, non-clinical services to support their health and wellbeing. Create a level playing field through aesthetics legislation ie ensuring that highly qualified beauty professionals are included in the list of those eligible to offer non-invasive treatment services.
Value of the sector to the UK economy and communities: with barbers, nail bars and beauty salons growing but the number of hairdressers in decline, NHBF calls for VAT reform, business rates reform, restraint on rising wages, positive high street policies and investment, further targeted support on energy and a crackdown on tax-evading businesses.
Employment, Skills and Apprenticeships: as a significant employer of young people; 240,000 people around half aged 16-34 and affordability of apprentices a challenge for small and micro businesses, we call for more effective redistribution of levy funding, flexi-apprenticeships, joint promotion of the Beauty T-level, modernise careers advice and improving DfE liaison with schools.
Sustainability: we showcase the many positive initiatives in the sector including guidance on achieving net zero targets and call for further green incentives to support business.
Kevin Hollinrake, Minister of State in the Department for Business & Trade shared: “The hair and beauty sector make an important contribution to our high streets, daily lives and local economies. We’ve backed the sector through business rates and energy bill support, increasing the VAT threshold as well as through additional funding towards training costs. Working together with organisations like the NHBF, we are committed to ensuring that the sector can continue to thrive and grow.”
“Labour has an ambitious plan to support small business. We recognise that hair and beauty businesses are a key part of the high street, the economy and make a strong contribution to wellbeing. In line with some of the themes in this manifesto, we plan to scrap business rates, revitalise our high streets and take skills in a new direction through technical excellence colleges and a new growth and skills levy” commented Rushanara Ali, Shadow Minister (Investment and Small Business).
"Our sector is absolutely vital to the fabric of communities up and down the country," said NHBF chief executive Caroline Larissey. "This Manifesto lays out a clear vision for how government can better support the creativity, entrepreneurship and public service displayed by our members every single day. With targeted support as outlined in our manifesto, the sector, which already offers so much to the economy and local communities, can continue to play a central role in the UK’s economic recovery, youth employment, apprenticeships, and the enhancement of people’s wellbeing and sustainability into the future”.
With an ambitious agenda for the year ahead, the NHBF Manifesto aims to put hair and beauty sector at the forefront of the political agenda as a great British success story.
A full copy of the NHBF Manifesto is available here.