The Covid lockdowns that forced hairdressers to close for months taught us to truly appreciate having our hair cut by a professional, but salons are warning of staff shortages as gen Z shuns a career in the profession.
The number of trainees enrolling in hairdressing apprenticeships has declined by 70% over the last decade. This, combined with a wave of high street salon closures, means people in the UK could face a longer wait for an appointment in the years to come.
It is becoming almost “impossible” to hire new stylists, says Josh Wood, a hair colourist and founder of a leading west London salon. “It is a brilliant, brilliant career. One that got me from a council estate in Barnsley to owning a large and profitable business. But taking someone on is now very difficult; the talent pool is getting smaller and smaller.”
The figures are stark. In England alone the number of trainees enrolling in hairdressing apprenticeships has fallen from 13,180 in 2015 to 4,160 in 2023, based on Department for Education figures. Last year, 1,520 students in England completed their training, down from 8,660 in 2015.
“It’s tragic,” says Millie Kendall, the chief executive of British Beauty Council, which champions the £4.6bn UK hair and beauty industry. “Britain is recognised all over the world for the quality of its haircuts and skill of its hair stylists, but this is being threatened by this recruitment crisis.”
One of the issues, according to industry experts, is hairdressing is perceived by young people to be a low-paid profession. The decline in apprenticeships is also due to school-leavers opting for a college course instead, but salon owners complain this is no substitute for the learning on the job. They say it takes an average of 16 weeks to fill a salon vacancy.
Closures are also a problem. While barbers, nail bars and beauty salons are all on the march, the number of hairdressers is falling. According to the Local Data Company, the overall number of hair salons fell by 319 in Great Britain in the year to 1 July 2024, while more than 1,000 beauty salons and nail bars were added.
After the financial strain caused by closing for long periods during the pandemic, the UK hairdressing industry has struggled to rebuild its fortunes. Salons have had to put up their prices, sometimes several times, but have struggled to pass on to customers the magnitude of business cost increases such as energy and wages during the cost of living crisis.
Most are small businesses, with a handful of employees, but a common complaint is that there is no incentive to expand and take on new staff because of the so-called VAT “cliff edge”.
When a business’s taxable turnover reaches £90,000, they must charge VAT on sales, a price adjustment salons say can affect their competitiveness, especially if nearby rivals are not VAT-registered.
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To avoid this many owners, especially in less wealthy communities, stick below the £90,000 threshold, or rent out chairs to freelancers. This situation has led to calls for the government to introduce a graduated system to smooth this transition.
Salons are an “integral part of all our communities” that provide a hub for social interaction as well as a break from the pressures of everyday life, says Caroline Larissey, the chief executive of the National Hair and Beauty Federation, the sector’s largest trade association.
Larissey adds that there is a need to recognise and support hair and beauty roles as viable career options for young people. “As a nation we need to collectively respect the importance of our sector, both for its financial contribution to the economy and to the country’s wellbeing,” she says.