CHAPTER 36:

It’s that time again…

The latest view of the current state of, in no particular order, Alan d, the Hair & Barber industry and all things as seen by me.

I haven’t written anything for about a year as it seemed as soon as I was settled into a routine something happened to shake it up & time somehow flew by. During the Summer of ’24 I picked up some kind of virus which left me virtually bed-ridden for 6 or 7 weeks. Apparently, this was the best way to lose nearly 3 stone in weight over that short period of time!

Obviously I had good medical attention which then led me to be hospitalized very briefly. Thank goodness I’m feeling much better now & I’ve put back some weight & don’t look like I’m ready to leave this mortal coil just yet.

Now to more serious things. I don’t want to be too political & therefore I won’t share my views on this ridiculous Labour Government. Unfortunately, the Hairdressing Industry has never been taken seriously by ANY Government and no matter how much we may complain about VAT, N.I. Minimum Wage etc., until we have a system of registration & licensing for all Hairdressers & Barbers we’re p…..g in the wind.

Personally, I gave up trying to lobby for these vital regulations years ago as the Industry has been talking about licensing and registration for all of the 63 years I’ve been involved both as an Apprentice, hairdresser, salon manager, company director, owner of a chain of salons & now the proud owner of our Education business.

As we don’t have regulation, you‘ve seen how the high streets have been invaded by hundreds of Barber shops with no customers! You’ve seen how “self-employment” by so many hairdressers has altered the nature of the salon business-model for so many employers and, finally, the education of Apprentices has been decimated all over the country by salon owners who now don’t “employ” anyone except rent-a chair people. If they can’t employ Apprentices, where are the future Hairdressers and Barbers coming from? The local CFE’S? I don’t think so! That’s given you food for thought!

Now let’s talk about a cut in VAT. If so many salon owners don’t have a proper business model except as “landlords”, what value does Government put on our services? Very little, as seen by the rise in the NMW. This is further evidence that until we have a properly regulated Industry we will never be taken seriously & will never be able to influence Government opinion.

Anyway, enough of the moaning, now for the positive. From the beginning of February we changed our product house to Fanola, famous for “no yellow” shampoo. In fact, they have a great colour product and a large range of shampoos, styling products etc. We’re having an open evening on Wednesday 7th May for our Apprentice employers to show them the product and to discuss their trainee’s progress. We’d love to see you on that evening if you can make it.
In spite of “Rachel from Accounts” doom and gloom, we’re certainly trading well above last year in no small amount to the tremendously loyal Employers we have who believe in our traditional training methods, especially those who allow their Apprentices to come to us one whole week each month instead of the one-day-a-week system. Obviously, many salons can’t spare their people out of the salon for more than one day each week, but those who can realise how much more efficient training becomes the more time we have with the Apprentice.

Any comments on any part of the above will be greatly appreciated, just give us a call.