15% of hair & beauty businesses to take on apprentices before 2022
By Emma Hobday | 10 October 2021 | News
The Covid-19 pandemic has hit beauty businesses hard – but the industry is fighting and showing resilience, with 43% of businesses breaking even and another 43% making a profit, reports the National Hair & Beauty Federation (NHBF) State of the Industry survey.
According to the survey, in the next three months, 27% of hair and beauty businesses are likely to take on new staff, up from 16% in June 2021, with 9% considering staff redundancies.
It’s giving the industry a much-needed confidence boost, with nearly two thirds (63%) confident of their survival. Over 40% say that they intend to grow their business, 46% remain the same size and only 14% downsize their business.
Before the pandemic, barbers, beauty and nail salons showed the highest growth in the top three retailer categories.
Following the lifting of restrictions over summer 2021 across the UK, more than half of businesses (58%) now report being either busy or steady, up from 38% in July 2021.
Key insights
1. Although restrictions have eased over the summer across the nations, many businesses are still not operating at full capacity as clients visit hair, barbering and the beauty salons less frequently. The majority are either partially or fully reliant on government support.
2. Businesses are still operating in an uncertain environment, navigating changes to restrictions, close contact guidance requirements and issues around self-isolation as customers are forced to cancel appointments or businesses are forced to close due to staff shortages.
3. This continues to be a challenging time for businesses within the sector, with the most common concerns being paying bills, whether clients will return, paying off debts, keeping staff and apprentices and having no savings should future lockdowns occur.
4. There are green shoots in terms of growth intentions. However, the future of the sector in terms of employment, training and apprenticeships could be at risk unless businesses are given greater incentives and further government support.
The NHBF is therefore calling for:
1. The reintroduction of the Job Retention Bonus through to the spring 2022 and restraint on further increases to the National Minimum Wage and apprenticeship rate until such time as the sector can begin its recovery.
2. More attractive apprenticeship incentives to employers, focusing on the development of affordable apprenticeship schemes specifically for small businesses in order to make it financially viable for them to keep on and recruit apprentices. SMEs account for 99.3% of total business and 100% of the hair and beauty sector.
3. A commitment to provide further financial support should any of the four nations need to reintroduce lockdown measures.
4. Continued consultation between the sector and UK and devolved governments to tailor current and future guidance in a clear and accessible way as possible with adequate time for businesses to plan and implement any further changes.
Click here to read the NHBF State of the Industry survey.