Today, a growing crisis hangs over the heads of your beloved hairdressers, barbers, and beauty professionals threatening apprenticeships, jobs and the very future of our high streets.
This isn’t just about a haircut,/colour or a brow wax ; this is about safeguarding the livelihoods of 90,000 hairdressers, barbers and beauty professionals being forced out of work by a two tier tax system.
This has gone on for some time but has now reached crisis point and why over 500 high street salon owners protested for the first time in history to fight for their employees, apprentices whose jobs are at risk right now.
Yes, that includes potentially your own hairdresser, barber or beauty professional.
We have so many rogue traders damaging the reputation of professionals who have trained for years so they can provide you with the best service, we have saturation of non professionals calling themselves hairdressers, barbers and even injecting in back gardens.
Some hair raising facts reported by CBI Economics include:
- By 2027, we risk losing all apprenticeships, cutting off a key route for young people to enter and learn the craft of this industry.
- By 2030, predictions indicate there will be only 3% of salons still operating under employment models left.
- Two tier trading where two salons can look identical but trade under different tax systems has already cost the tax payer £2.4billion in VAT alone! this pays towards your public services.
- Apprenticeships have fallen by 82% since pre covid.
- Salons are still weighted down by £266million of covid debt and have still not recovered from covid, despite claims from Government.
- The Government said look after your people and we will look after employers they didn’t they just left us to clean up the mess from lockdowns
- The economy will lose between £8.6billion and £14.4billion in lifetime productivity as more apprentices lose their jobs and future careers
- The cost to high street footfall, our communities, local jobs and not to mention wellbeing will be devastated
- £400million in taxes a year due to two tier trading, if this continues you will have to pay more and our public services will continue to suffer.
- Salons are hit 3 x harder in direct taxes compared to other high street retailers, as 60% of the cost to trade in employed salons is labour.
This isn’t simply an industry decline. This is a collapse that will leave high streets barren and tens of thousands jobless.
Hairdressing and beauty playgrounds are sanctuaries, offering solace and warmth beyond just haircuts and beauty treatments.
These professionals help us nurture our self-esteem, offering a listening ear when needed. Saving our salons means supporting local businesses, saving jobs, and preserving apprenticeship opportunities for future generations.
WHAT ARE WE ASKING YOU TO SUPPORT?
Industry are asking for a split rate VAT so services which are 60% of employed salons costs are taxed at 10%.
Without change we looking at a generation of young people unable to train and work in their chosen profession and employing salon owners, across the whole country, who are facing the losing their businesses and in many cases their homes as they simply can’t compete on this unlevel playing field with a business that looks identical but trade under different tax regimes meaning they pay less than half the tax.
The British Hair Consortium and CBI Economics report that one salon using the employed model that looks identical to another contributes 123% more in PAYE and VAT).
I’ve had the current situation described to me as being worse than during Covid.”
“The protest in Westminster on Monday was the first time that hair and beauty professionals have ever felt so desperate that they felt direct action was the only option open to them, you could feel the desperation in the air.”
“84% of people who work in hairdressing are women and hairdressing salons are one of the few remaining cyclical footfall generators for the High Street so without change the Labour Government is throwing the future for women, the High Street and young people away.
“No apprentices now means that there will be no trained stylists or salon owners in the future, which will directly impact UK consumers. This will inevitably lead to a drop in standards and the inevitable risk to consumer safety and reinforces why it is so strange that there is no mandatory register of those working in hairdressing and barbering.
“A split rate of VAT, as in place in Ireland and the Netherlands, where the labour element, is charged at a lower rate, would help provide jobs for NEETS, growth to the High Street and protect worker rights.”
We implore you, help save your high street salons, and stop two tier tax trading costing our public services £bns.
Sign this petition to bring about necessary change needed to not just create a level playing field but to secure your hairdressers, barbers and beauty providers jobs, so you can continue to enjoy the services your local salon, barbershop, beauty salon or spa offer.
PLEASE help to SaveOurSalons SaveJobs SaveApprentices & save the future of the British high street.
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