Hairdressers call for tax reform in ‘save our salons’ Westminster protest
The British Hair Consortium wants VAT on labour costs to be cut from 20% to 10% in the Spring Statement.
Hairdressers gathered in Westminster for a protest calling for tax reform in the Spring Statement to “save our salons”.
Protesters wore black cutting gowns and uniforms, with many sitting in fold-up chairs while receiving hair and beauty treatments on Monday in Parliament Square.
The British Hair Consortium (BHC) has urged Chancellor Rachel Reeves to address “structural flaws” in the tax system having a “disproportionate impact” on the hair and beauty sector.
The group wants VAT on labour costs to be cut from 20% to 10% in the Spring Statement.
The BHC said the industry faces a 93% employment decline by 2030 without reform, with no new apprenticeships by 2027, “pushing the industry to the brink of collapse”.
It added that a study by CBI Economics found that without intervention, independent salons “will continue to close, jobs will be lost, and an entire generation of skilled professionals could disappear”.
The BHC said the study showed that the sector is far more labour intensive than most other high street businesses, with limited chances to reclaim VAT cost.
Signs held by protesters on Monday included “Give Tax the Chop” and “Cut the VAT to save jobs”.
Discussing the protest, Toby Dicker, co-founder of the BHC, told the PA news agency: “It was an amazing turnout, 400-plus hairdressers, hair salon owners coming together for the first time to protest about our industry.
“What’s next for us is that we’re going to continue to forge bringing different business owners together and to create a really positive platform to share what’s going on in our industry.
“All we want the Government to understand is that if they don’t sit down and talk to us now and understand what’s going to happen in the future, then they’re going to lose 90,000 employees across our sector and a whole future generation of apprentices.”
Mr Dicker added: “Our industry has been ignored for years and we’re calling on the Government to correct decades of mismanagement.
“Most owners haven’t had a pay rise in many years and simply can’t consider expanding their business, let alone take on an apprentice.”
Laura Geary, director at Headmasters, one of the UK’s biggest salon groups, said: “The changes from the last Budget have made it very hard for salons to continue to offer the benefits of employment and we will certainly not be able to take on as many apprentices going forward.
“This will kill the future of our industry.”
Denise Thomas, owner of Denise Thomas Hair Salons in Liverpool, said one of the “biggest challenges” she had faced over the years had been VAT.
Ms Thomas, who has been a salon owner for 25 years, added: “A growing number of salons now operate with chair renters who don’t have to pay VAT, which allows them to keep their prices low and creates an uneven playing field.
“If salons like mine continue to be squeezed, they’ll become less and less viable, making it even harder for employers like me to secure a stable future.”
