Beauty Businesses Continue to Fuel High Street Success

A new report from the Local Data Company, commissioned by the British Beauty Council, provides clear evidence for beauty’s stronghold on the UK’s local shopping areas. The British beauty industry makes a contribution of £24.5bn to the UK’s GDP, with retailers making a direct contribution of £3.3bn, and the service sector facilitating £7.8bn worth of consumer spending.

According to new official figures from the Local Data Company (LDC) analysing the openings and closures of retail and leisure outlets, independent beauty retailers continue to show resilience on UK highstreets. Between September 2022 and 2023, researchers found a positive growth of 1,653 additional independent units.

This is in comparison to the continuing vacancy rates witnessed across UK high streets since its 2021 peak in the Covid-19 pandemic. Thus highlighting the beauty sector's strength and flexibility despite the business challenges of the last year, including increasing business rates and the loss of VAT-free shopping incentives.

Millie Kendall OBE, CEO of the British Beauty Council commented: “The British beauty industry has faced unique challenges since the pandemic, due to the nature of the service sector and the slimming of its talent pool. However, this new data reinforces the sector's ability to remain agile and competitive, despite adversity. It is positive to see that the number of barbers, beauty salons and nail salons have all increased over the past year, increasing by 815 and 618 units respectively.”

This is in contrast to the hairdressing industry which is experiencing continuing challenges resulting in closures. Despite premises based salons within the hair sector witnessing a net decline, hairdressers in Wales bucked the trend presenting an increase of 31 units across the period.

The research also uncovered the beauty industry’s nationwide reach, highlighting that success is not city-centric. Whilst London welcomed a net increase of 68 beauty businesses across its shopping streets, the Northeast witnessed a net opening of 102 units and Wales saw an average increase of 118 vacancies filled.

This further spotlights the beauty industry’s role in creating jobs and promoting increased social mobility across the UK. According to the British Beauty Council’s Value of Beauty Report 2023, the industry’s employment footprint is just as large in the poorest third of local authorities as it is in the third with the highest income levels, proving the diversity of opportunity it supplies to all areas of the UK.