NHF warns of ‘pain’ for salons following minimum wage increase
By Helena Biggs | 27 December 2017 | Movers & Shakers, News
The National Hairdressers Federation, which supports the hair, beauty and barbering industries, reveals that salons will be hit hard by the Budget announcement that wage rates will rise from April.
Chancellor, Philip Hammond, revealed that the National Living Wage for over-25s is to rise by 4.4% from £7.50 to £7.83 an hour from April 2018, and there will be a steep increased in the National Minimum Wage rates – including the biggest increase in youth rates for a decade.
The rate for 21 to 24-year-olds will rise by 4.7% to £7.38 an hour, and up 5.4% to £5.90 for 18 to 20-year-olds. The rate for apprentices will go up 5.7% to £3.70 and the wage will increase to £4.20 an hour for 16 to 17-year-olds.
NHF chief executive Hilary Hall comments: “We are disappointed that the government has seen fit to push ahead with such big minimum wage increases,” comments Hilary Hall, chief executive of the NHF. “Salons and barbershops are already under intense pressure – prices are rising, and consumer confidence appears to be slipping. These increases will cause real pain for many small business owners.
“Our only consolation is that the increase in the National Living Wage is less than we had feared.”