As part of our #SupportOurSalons campaign, Professional Beauty Group is encouraging salon owners affected by the announcements made in the Autumn Budget to contact their local MP to explain the impact on the beauty industry.
In a new development, The British Hair Consortium is calling on salon professionals to help shape Government policy by pushing for a VAT cut.
The Autumn 2024 Budget has left salon owners dealing with rising costs, putting the future of PAYE-employing and VAT-paying salons, as well as apprenticeship programmes, at risk.
In response, The British Hair Consortium (BHC) has partnered with the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) to commission a report demonstrating why cutting VAT 10% is essential to the survival of UK hair and beauty salons.
The report will be released on National Salon Employers Day (February 10), when salon owners are encouraged to invite their local MPs to review the findings.
According to Toby Dicker, co-founder of the BHC, this is an important opportunity to present a united front to policymakers. Dicker said, "This is the ideal time to share the report findings with MPs throughout the country.
"We need the entire industry to pull together and share our report results in order to gain as much attention as possible. This is crucial and if we do not see a cut in VAT to 10%, then sadly many salons will close or be forced to change their business model imminently."
To strengthen the report, the BHC is asking for industry feedback through the CBI Economics Survey.
This survey will collect data on the economic challenges facing the hair and beauty sector and support the push for a VAT reduction in the upcoming Spring Budget in March.
The deadline to complete the survey is midnight on Wednesday, January 15. Salons and beauty professionals have been encouraged to take part and ensure their voices are heard.
You can complete the CBI Economics Survey here: https://bit.ly/thebigsurvey
Professional Beauty's #SupportOurSalons campaign
The Autumn 2024 Budget will affect the professional beauty industry – from the increase in National Insurance Contributions, to the impact the Budget will have on apprenticeships.
What is the #SupportOurSalons campaign?
Professional Beauty, along with our sister title Hairdressers Journal, has launched a #SupportOurSalons campaign, dedicated to sharing your stories and supporting the wider industry push to encourage Government to offer relief measures that will help mitigate the increased costs created in the recent Autumn Budget.
Professional Beauty believes that the rise in employer’s National Insurance contributions from 13.8% to 15% (and the scaling back of the threshold from £9,100 to £5,000) will disproportionately hurt the salon sector.
Recent reports, including a study commissioned by British Beauty Council, suggest that some salons will be forced to close, while others will cut back staff and apprenticeships – which will have a long-term effect on our industry.
Many in the industry fear that the measures will drive business underground, with a move toward self-employment contracts, which will have a negative effect on HMRC’s revenue.
What action can salon owners take?
We are encouraging beauty professionals to write an email or letter to your MP, explaining how the measures will impact your business and inviting them into your salon to experience just how good your services are.
You can find the name and contact details of your local MP to send it to here on the UK Parliament website.
We have also drafted a template letter which can be downloaded here and can be edited as you wish to reflect your own views and story.
To inform our campaign and support the movement to effect change, we'd also love to hear from you how the Autumn Budget will affect you and your business. Please fill in the quick form below to let us know your story.
Autumn Budget: key points for small business owners
On October 30, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the Autumn Budget, which outlines the Labour government's plans.
Opening her speech, Reeves said that the only way to drive economic growth is to ‘invest, invest, invest’.
The budget will see taxes raised by £40 billion pounds across the UK, to invest back into the country’s public services and local councils.
- Employers’ National Insurance contributions will rise from 13.8% to 15%
- The threshold at which businesses start paying National Insurance on a workers' earnings will be lowered from £9,100 to £5,000
- Employment allowance will increase from £5,000 to £10,000
- Employers will be able to claim up to £10,500 on their National Insurance bill, up from the previous £5,000.
- The current 75% discount to business rates - due to expire in April 2025 - will be replaced by a discount of 40% - up to a maximum discount of £110k.
Key points for workers
- Legal minimum wage for over-21s to rise from £11.44 to £12.21 per hour from April
- Income tax and National Insurance thresholds will freeze until 2028
What this means for small business owners
The chancellor said that her choice to drop the threshold at which businesses start paying NI contributions will raise £25bn.
The 40% discount on business rates could see business rates nearly double (rather than quadruple based on the previous expiration date in 2025).
To help reduce the effect of these changes on small businesses, Reeves is increasing the employment allowance, meaning that “865,000 employers won’t pay any National Insurance at all next year.”
She also said that over one million employers, as a result of this change, will pay the same or less as they did previously.
The budget also emphasises tax simplification and increased digitalisation, which could benefit salon owners by streamlining tax compliance and potentially reduce the administrative burden that many can find overwhelming.
What this means for workers
This budget stayed in line with the previous Conservative budget on personal tax thresholds, freezing until 2028 to prevent people from being dragged into higher tax bands as their wages rise.
"I have come to the conclusion that extending the threshold freeze would hurt working people. It would take more money out of their payslips," said Reeves.
Industry response
Responding to the news, Caroline Larissey, chief executive of the National Hair and Beauty Federation, said:
"We asked the government for support for employers to counteract rising wages so we’re pleased that they have listened and responded with a rise in the Employment Allowance which will benefit some sector businesses, despite the rises to employers National Insurance contributions.
"However, with 16%+ rises in the youth wage rates there was nothing on interim support for businesses training young people. The only ‘youth guarantee’ for our sector will be that small and micro employers won’t be able to afford to take on apprentices.
"This makes it even more vital that Skills England is responsive to the needs of our sector and the new Growth and Skills levy channels major support to incentivise small and micro businesses training apprentices.
"We will engage constructively with the consultation around business rates reform and the decision to keep at least some support through a 40% retail business rates discount and freeze of the small business multiplier is welcome and important in the interim. The government was silent on VAT but we will continue to push for reform which is the sector’s number one issue.
"While the Employment Allowance increase offers some breathing room, the dramatic rise in apprentice wages threatens to disrupt the traditional pathway into our sector. Without targeted intervention, we risk creating a skills gap that could take years to bridge.
"The government's approach to retail business rates shows they're listening, but more comprehensive support is needed to ensure the sustainability of apprenticeships in hair and beauty."
