Hair & Barber Council

Another great video from where Andrew answers a few questions, including how he got into the industry and why he is a member of the Hair & Barber Council. 🙌

A bit of advice and a bit of a Friday pick me up from Altea Hair Salon! 💪

Thanks for sharing

What are your salons overheads?

With costs increasing has calculated her monthly outgoings. The current environment is making it even harder for salons to turn a profit.

As we’ve mentioned before in relationship to one of Jo’s videos, the current situation isn’t sustainable. We will continue to lobby for changes, like a split rate VAT model that will help businesses rather than continue to make their lives harder.

Once again, please do go and follow Jo for more of the realities of running a salon in today’s environment.


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These are our salon’s monthly outgoings 👆

That’s £20,000 a week… just to open the doors - before we’ve made a single penny.

Turnover is not profit. If we don’t bring this in, we make a loss.

And these are just our day to day running costs. It doesn’t include:
— anything for emergencies
— anything to reinvest back into the business
— replacing chairs, basins, equipment, tools
— refurbishing when things get tired
— or any actual profit

And profit isn’t a dirty word - it’s what keeps businesses alive! It allows us to reinvest, improve the salon, and have a cushion for when things go wrong.

Employed salons are incredibly expensive to run - wages, VAT, business rates… rising costs across the board. And this is why they’re disappearing. 😔

Save this for the next time you see someone say hairdressers are “too expensive” 👀😬

The tax reality for employed salons across the UK, very eloquently explained by salon owner

The current situation isn’t sustainable. A split rate VAT model, something which we have been campaigning and lobbying for, is urgently needed.

Please do go and follow Jo, she has many more excellent videos explaining the realities of running a salon at the moment.


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We are open for 10 weeks of the year just to pay VAT, business rates and employer National Insurance.

That’s before a single pound goes on wages, training, rent, products… and before corporation tax even comes into play!

- We are an employer salon.
- We train apprentices.
- We create skilled jobs.
- We invest in people.

And yet the tax system actively punishes us for employing staff.

I would love to take on more team members.
I would love to train more young people into this industry.
But right now, the numbers simply don’t allow it.

Hair & beauty is a labour-intensive service industry, not a product-based one.
It’s time the tax system reflected that.

👉 We urgently need a split VAT rate for our sector.
👉 10% VAT on labour would make a real, immediate difference to jobs, training and sustainability.

This isn’t about avoiding tax.
It’s about having a system that actually allows responsible businesses to survive and grow. 🌱

If you run a salon, or employ people in this industry, you’ll understand exactly what I’m talking about.

And if you don’t - this is why so many salons are struggling or closing their doors. 😔

Please act now and Save Our Salons! 🙏