British Beauty industry urged to unite in call for more targeted financial support

The British beauty industry is being urged to unite in the fight for further financial support, following the introduction of a new Tier 4 in England which forced the sudden closure of shops and salons across London and the South East.

The British Beauty Council is calling on businesses affected by the closures to provide it with key information about their business costs to help it better inform The Treasury of the impact that such short notice closures will have on hair and beauty businesses.

The sudden closures meant that many struggling businesses, “were essentially given a few hours’ notice to cancel appointments, notify staff, prepare their business for extended closure, refund deposits – most likely without the funds to do so,” the British Beauty Council said.

In a meeting, held with the Department for Business over the weekend, the Council also once again stressed that the current £2,000-£3,000 grant offered to businesses, did  “not even touch the sides in terms of covering the financial commitments salons and barbershops have in rent, rates, utilities, tax etc.

“Businesses have no savings left, their loans are already spent and businesses will close,” the Council said.

“We have requested a meeting with the Treasury to give further detail on the financial impact on hair and beauty.

“To make our point as robustly as possible we need the figures to show the costs of having a salon/shop even before a client/customer comes through the door.

“We need the figures to show how much businesses would normally make this time of year to hit home the lost earnings. For this we urgently need your help,” it added.

Businesses are being urged to urgently contact the council with their figures and help it “make a strong enough case for additional targeted support,” similar to that offered to sectors including hospitality and leisure, the arts and sports and leisure.

Businesses can email joinme@britishbeautycouncil.com for more information and to share their data.