Beauty Takes the Brunt of The Pandemic With 1 in 4 Making Profit

After the initial busy period post lockdown, salons have seen that clients have not returned to the hair and beauty sector in the same numbers as before the pandemic, particularly in the beauty sector whose trade relies more heavily on client experience and social events.

The National Hair & Beauty Federation (NHBF) has undertaken a survey between 15-24 June to understand the state of the industry as it is currently as beauty salons and professionals try to recover. It gathered 1,750 responses from a good representation of businesses in the Personal Care sector across all areas including city centres, town centres and villages in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

The survey found that the beauty sector is really struggling. Business is down for three in five beauty businesses with only 1/4 making any kind of profit. As a result of the lack of profit and poor customer return, 3/4 of businesses have cut staff hours - despite treatments now taking longer than pre-covid due to government guidelines and covid precautions.

The lack of turnover is painting a bleak view for the future of the industry, with 55% having no savings and the rising delta variant causing almost half of beauty businesses feel unsure or pessimistic about their survival should restrictions continue or if restrictions should be brought back after easing.

The Local Data Company estimates that as of May 2021, 16% of the industry has been lost to the crisis. Without careful management of the recovery, this figure could continue to rise, with the greatest impact felt by women and young people.

Richard Lambert, NHBF chief executive says, “Ours is a pretty resilient sector and has begun to navigate the tapering of support from 1 July. However, we are unsure how businesses can be expected to meet these additional outgoings with no cash reserves, significant debt and operational restrictions continuing to limit the ability to generate income. 

We are asking for an immediate reintroduction of the Job Retention Bonus and restraint on further increases to the National Minimum Wage and apprenticeship rate until the sector’s recovery is well-established. Plus, we need a commitment to provide further financial support should any of the four nations need to reintroduce lockdown measures.”

Survey respondents included salon or barbershop owners, chair or room renters, home-based business owners, mobile or freelance practitioners, employers and the self-employed. 75% of respondents were salon or barbershop owners. 40% covered the wider space renting, mobile and freelance section of the sector; either wholly working in this way or in addition to being a salon or barbershop owner.