Save Our Salons campaign launches to call for VAT cut for beauty and hair industry
Hellen Ward and a group of fellow salon owners are launching the Save Our Salons campaign, calling for an urgent reduction in the VAT rate for salons, spas and other personal care businesses.
The group are asking anyone working in the beauty, spa or hair industry to urgenlty write to their local MP explaining the personal effect that the coronavirus lockdowns and restrictions have had on their businesses and asking them to push for a cut in the VAT rate from 20% to 5%, in line with the reduction given to the hospitality sector.
Ward, managing director of Richard Ward Hair & Metrospa in London, has joined together with other salon owners including Gina Conway, who runs an eponymous chain in London, and Toby Dicker of The Chapel in Kent, to create the Save Our Salons website.
"Our industry is in crisis. Statistics suggest that nearly 8,000 salons will never reopen due to the pandemic. When we translate that into jobs lost, the damage becomes unthinkable. We simply have to act to prevent any more heart-breaking harm. And we have to act now," said Ward.
How to support the Save Our Salons campaign
1. Find out who your local MP is (using this link)
2. Get in touch with them by downloading and personalising the draft template letter on the Save Our Salons website.
3. Tell your own story. Your MPs need to hear from real people, real businesses in their constituencies, exactly how you’ve been personally affected. It is this that will make the difference when they table what to debate in parliament. And that is when our voice will be heard and decisions can be affected. Forwarding a template letter is not enough
4. Help by sharing the campaign with other salon owners – highlight it in your social media and share it with anyone else you think might help.
For further information and all downloads, check out the Save Our Salons website.