Falkirk MP fears for future of hair and beauty businesses

Years before he was having to listen to the UK Government talking about cuts, Falkirk MP John McNally was dealing with cuts of a different kind as a popular and successful barber in Denny.

He said: "I worked as a barber since I was 15 right up to when I got into politics – so that’s almost 50 years. I would say, from the latest information we have, mobile hairdressers have all been struggling, as have hair stylists and nail technicians.

“A lot of them have fallen through the gaps when it comes to being able to get funding to help them – from the massive salons to the one-person or two-person businesses, a lot of them are really suffering.

“Around 62 percent of these hairdressers are unsure if their business is going to survive this lockdown.”

Mr McNally believes these skilled people will be out of work – which will not only make it difficult for the population to get their hair cut or styled when they come out of lockdown, but also lead to a rise in the number of people claiming benefits.

He said the businesses and the industry – which brings in around £800 million in Scotland – could be helped greatly by reducing their VAT.

"And in the long term, mandatory registration to regulate the industry so everyone is following the same guidelines,” he added.

Raymond Simons, CEO of the Scottish Barber’s Association, has had many people in the industry coming to him saying how bad things have been for them during the lockdown.

He said: “The whole industry is in jeopardy and the longer this goes on the worse it will get. For many people – not just in Scotland – they are not going to have a business to come back to if this keeps up.

“The thing is you have a lot of people who are mobile hairdressers, self employed people who have to work in people’s homes. That’s not ideal at the moment, but they are forced to do it no matter the restrictions because they have no other option, there is no funding to help them.”

Mr Simons said he does not understand why barbers are not still able to trade if they take the correct protection measures.

"We are no worse than taxi drivers who have people sitting in the back of their cabs.”

The experienced state registered barber admitted it had taken him a while to get his skills back when he returned to work following the first lockdown.

"It took me a while – you’ve got to actually be doing something to stay sharp and if no one is actually cutting hair for a long period of time then skill levels will drop.”

The National Hair and Beauty Federation recently posted about support available to non-mobile hair and beauty businesses working in the wedding sector.

Applications for the £25 million support fund are now open and eligible businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic can receive one-off grants of up to £25,000.

Visit www.nhbf.co.uk for more information.