How the rising cost of energy is impacting the salon industry
From delaying your monthly maintenance trim to switching salons, the rising cost of living can impact beyond warmth, water and lights. For many, when realigning expenditure with the recent surge in energy prices, beauty is often the first sector to take a hit. But in a climate of heightened utility bills and a shift in domestic cost of living, what are the butterfly effects of rising prices on British beauty salons? And how can they survive the storm?
“We have very high energy bills as we wash and dry all our towels on site,” says John Frieda Salons creative colour director, Nicola Clarke. Her supplier costs have risen by approximately 20 per cent in recent months, particularly those that had previously undergone price ascents post-pandemic. She says that the essential hygiene services used to disinfect salon gowns have inflated by an additional 20 per cent in just the past few weeks.
Naturally, she's educating her teams to be mindful of waste. “That includes not wasting products – for example, the shampoo and treatments we use at the backwash, or our colourists not over-mixing product,” she explains. “All these things we cannot do without, but we can be careful to not create waste. Our service to our clients still has to be the best it can be.”
Clarke is a single example of the many salon owners and hairdressers experiencing 'the pinch' caused by climbing living costs. In a study of its members, BABTAC (The British Association of Beauty Therapy and Cosmetology) found that just under 94 per cent of salon owners had seen a considerable increase in utility rates in the past year. A total of 40 per cent of owners encountered a 100 per cent increase, with a further 10 per cent enduring surges as high as 200 per cent.
“The [personal care] service sector are high energy users,” the British Beauty Council reiterated in a statement to Harper’s Bazaar. “Especially in relation to maintaining important hygiene and safety standards – clean towels, robes, hot water, continual airflow through air conditioning systems, all come at significant outlay to business owners regardless of season and cannot be optional.”
Sadly, this all means a risk to livelihoods. “Simply put, without jobs, families cannot support themselves; the hair and beauty industry is a large employer, supporting a total of almost 600,000 jobs,” continues the British Beauty Council. “This equates to one in every 60 jobs in the UK. It’s also entrepreneurial, with a higher proportion of self-employed (67 per cent), micro (74 per cent) and small businesses (94 per cent) than most other sectors. One in five workers are under 25 years of age; 86 per cent are women as are 78 per cent of business-owners.”
What support can salons seek?
The Government recently announced its Energy Bill Relief Scheme, which will provide energy bill relief for businesses, including salons, between 1 October 2022 and 31 March 2023. The British Beauty Council has stated that it very much welcomes the Government’s intervention on energy bills and will be working to build a robust case as to why the personal care sector must also be supported after the six month period.
"It is imperative that the Government continues to listen to businesses as the winter progresses to make sure support is targeted where needed. Our services are most heavily indexed in the country’s most deprived communities, meaning that when businesses fail, it disproportionately affects those that can afford it the least. Widening the scope of business rates relief and incentivising employers to take on apprentices and upskill their workforce would be very worthwhile additions to the Government’s recent measures."
A supportive clientele is indispensable to salon owners during these trying financial times. We encourage consumers to continue to champion their local salons and beauty specialists, where possible, to ensure the services that we value so dearly are able to commence.
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