Salford, Edinburgh and Stockport are among the top beauty and wellness hotspots, according to a new study which analysed the number of beauty businesses and their customer ratings.
A recent study by electrical retailer Currys uncovered the UK’s beauty hotspot destinations, analysing the offering of hair, nail and massage locations listed on booking platform Treatwell compared to the population of those areas.
It also uncovered the average rating of the service to crown the best places to live if you’re looking for beauty treatments.
The data revealed that in joint first place was Salford and Edinburgh. Both ranked highly when it came to their hair and nail offerings, with Edinburgh coming out as top overall for its quality and quantity of hair locations in the city, with an average rating of 4.92 for its hair salons.
Both cities also scored well for massage with Salford ranking third for massage businesses and Edinburgh not far behind in fourth, with an average review rating for massage services of 4.93 and 4.95 respectively.
Close behind in third place was Stockport. With a population of 291,080, it came in first place for nails and joint first place for massage, along with Oldham. This city was only let down by the quality of hair establishments, ranking seventh overall for this beauty service.
Currys used a data analysis tool to monitor Treatwell's services across the UK to uncover the top beauty and wellness hotspots.
The research included finding how many amenities each location held, and then comparing them to the average rating.
These were then standardised against the size of the population to figure out which area has the most and best beauty and wellness hotspots, which were then ranked into an index.
Best locations for beauty and wellness
| Overall beauty and wellness rank | Location | Hair rank | Nail rank | Massage rank |
| 1 | Salford | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| 1 | Edinburgh | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 3 | Stockport | 7 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | Oldham | 7 | 4 | 1 |
| 5 | Glasgow | 5 | 6 | 5 |
| 6 | Manchester | 9 | 5 | 10 |
| 7 | Luton | 5 | 8 | 13 |
| 8 | Birmingham | 10 | 11 | 8 |
| 9 | Liverpool | 3 | 15 | 12 |
| 10 | Warrington | 16 | 9 | 6 |
| 11 | Leeds | 11 | 14 | 7 |
| 11 | Newcastle-upon-Tyne | 4 | 6 | 22 |
| 13 | London | 12 | 11 | 10 |
| 14 | Bristol | 18 | 9 | 9 |
| 15 | Wakefield | 13 | 13 | 17 |
| 16 | Sunderland | 14 | 18 | 19 |
| 17 | Peterborough | 15 | 21 | 20 |
| 18 | Cardiff | 29 | 16 | 14 |
| 19 | Bradford | 22 | 21 | 17 |
| 19 | Bolton | 17 | 28 | 15 |
| 19 | Leicester | 18 | 27 | 15 |
Best places for massage
Stockport and Oldham, with a population of 291,080 and 220,172 respectively, have highly-rated massage businesses – both of these Greater Manchester towns earned an average rating of 4.9 on user reviews.
Salford is also a serious contender, placing in third. This city’s proximity to the metropolis of Manchester means that it boasts a thriving wellness community, with plenty of spas and clinics.
Scotland also ranked highly for wellness, with Edinburgh and Glasgow taking fourth and fifth place respectively. With their dedication to holistic wellness, quality and customer satisfaction, these cities’ massage businesses received 4.9 ratings from residents.
Best places for nail services
Head north for nails – the top six places are all located there.
Stockport took first place with an average nail business review rating of 4.9. Other cities that were mentioned more than once were Salford, which takes joint second place with Edinburgh and Oldham takes fourth place.
Luton took eighth place and was the first southern town on the list.
Summer nail trends
As we approach summer, there has been a rise in searches in the UK for summer-ready nail art.
In April 2024, there was a 200% rise in Google searches for “summer nail art”, but what is everyone going to be sporting this summer?
Here are some of the rising, breakout searches when it comes to nail art, according to UK trending searches for the past 30 days, taken on May 1, 2024 from Google Trends.
- Orange nail art
- Daisy nail art
- Cherry blossom nail art
- Flower nail art designs
- Swirl nail art
- French manicure nail art
- Black nail designs
- Tulip nail art
- Cherry nails
- Lemon nail art
- Flame nail art
- Star nail art
- Neon nail art
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