In response to popular demand we have re-instated our printed SHINE membership newsletter!
We hope you are having an excellent summer season and long may it continue! The energy crisis is of course a concern for all of us and there’s more on that. As always, there’s a lot going on at TSA and we are delighted to see membership at its highest level for many years including lots of new business start-ups along with some familiar ‘faces’ back on board!
As always, we are keen to ensure we are providing a service and level of support that you find helpful and beneficial for your professional indoor tanning business – both directly and indirectly.
Enjoy this issue of SHINE and please get in touch if there’s anything you would like help with or think we should be looking at to support our members further.
All the best, Team TSA!
Who would have thought we would be facing yet another major crisis so soon after Covid yet unprecedented energy price rises are already impacting businesses, particularly those coming out of fixed rate contracts.
With power consumption one of, and increasingly THE largest overhead of many tanning salons, TSA remains in dialogue with various government departments stating the case for our industry to be considered for support. To date, there is no indication that any government is considering direct financial support for businesses or indeed our sector in particular but the information collected from our recent Financial Impact Survey has and will be provided as evidence for our case to governments – so thank you to everyone who took the time to complete this. The survey is still open if you haven’t yet had the chance to complete: www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/ EnergyCostImpactSurvey
A template letter has also been drafted to send to your local MP/MSP/TD. Download this from the Members Zone on our website – or contact TSA’s office for a copy to be emailed to you.
From some of the stories we have heard recently in TSA’s office, it sounds as though securing the right level of cover for your business is becoming a trickier pathway to navigate.
Just a reminder that as a TSA member, you can contact the companies below and be guaranteed a quote.*
GALLAGHERS: 02476 232627
It’s important that you contact this number for a quote from Gallaghers as it specifically looks after the policy which is only available to our members. This policy includes Special Treatment Risk Cover and is not available without this level of cover.
WE’RESURE: 028 9131 1011
We’reSure offer two options on policies for our members, one with and one without Special Treatment Risk Cover.
As with all insurance policies the devil is in the detail, so ensure you are comparing like for like when looking at policies and premiums. We heard about a policy recently that prohibits the sale of tanning lotions in the salon. The business owner didn’t realise this when signing up and of course sells lotions in the salon. Unfortunately when a claim was put in, the insurance company said the policy was void on this basis and refused to pay out.
* This does not include ROI where quotes may be available but not guaranteed.
As you may be aware, TSA has a partnership with Full Power Utilities who offer our members a free energy audit and advice on your energy options.
As you can imagine with current market conditions, they are experiencing an unprecedented level of enquiries. To help manage the situation, they are currently only able to provide advice where you are out of contract or have less than 6 months to run on your existing contract.
We know people use sunbeds to tan but we equally know there are a host of other reasons why people use sunbeds. The problem is, we can’t directly promote the health benefits of using a sunbed as we are in the business of commercial tanning.
But of course, there is nothing to stop us from promoting what our customers say! (Apart from salons in ROI where legislation prevents this). So to help facilitate awareness of the many reasons why people use sunbeds TSA has produced a campaign ‘I Use A Sunbed Because...’
This branded A3 whiteboard provides a fantastic visual to promote the many varied reasons why your customers use your sunbeds.
The aim is to see our members create a tsunami of posts during October and November to hopefully drive-up footfall into salons as we head into a traditionally quieter time of the year – but also a time when the non-tanning benefits of using a sunbed come into their own!
As part of this campaign we also want to secure consumer research including data on why people use sunbeds, how they use sunbeds, their knowledge on responsible tanning and how this knowledge is also used to tan responsibly in the sunshine.
Also that sunbed users are far from tanning abusers and are actually much more knowledgeable about responsible tanning than non-sunbed users. We will use this data as part of a planned campaign in 2023.
This will be invaluable data to use against the sunbed ban lobby which has ramped up activity throughout the UK and the Republic of Ireland in recent months.
The research survey also includes a number of market intelligence questions. Salons participating in the campaign will be provided with an analysis of this national data for their own commercial use as a benefit of participation.
This is a campaign that will benefit your business and help TSA in our efforts to ‘defend’ our industry.
1. Visit TSA’s website shop: www.sunbedassociation.org.uk/shop or call TSA’s office on 020 8398 3111 and purchase your ‘I Use A Sunbed Because...’ Campaign Kit – ONLY £19.99!
2. Run the ‘I Use a Sunbed Because…’ campaign during October and November (and beyond).
3. Encourage customers to complete the online survey.
And that’s it!
We want this to be the biggest and most successful campaign TSA has undertaken to date - we can only achieve this with you! So please order your campaign pack today!
After a hiatus of 2 years due to the pandemic, we were thrilled that SHINE 2022 was undoubtedly our most successful SHINE event to date with 97% of delegates rating the event good/excellent – and for the first time ever the event was SOLD OUT! The challenge is now on to make SHINE 2023 bigger and even better!
have not gone on
don’t miss
yet
always you will have the choice to attend for just the presentations and networking/company displays or for the whole event to include the Drinks Reception and Event Dinner.
“It’s a great place to discuss your business with other business owners and to bounce ideas off each other.”
“Very friendly atmosphereinformative and inspiring. Great getting to hear and learn about experiences of others.”
“ Excellent opportunity to learn, to interact, and to socialise with other operators and commercial businesses. Would definitely recommend both the day & the evening events.”
“ This was my first event and I found it so friendly, informative and inspiring!”
Our tabloid media frustratingly continues to publish unsubstantiable case study stories (invariably paid for) with individuals selfdiagnosing their melanoma as a result of sunbed use. We of course challenge these but unfortunately, this particular genre of the media is adept in the style in which it publishes information presented as fact when it is undoubtedly fiction. It is equally adept at deflecting our challenges and to add insult to injury the press complaints organisation is essentially toothless. Nevertheless we will always continue to challenge such ridiculous stories.
Sunbed Association chairman Gary Lipman said there was “absolutely no excuse for salons to allow under-18s access to a sunbed”.
“Whilst many young people may look older than they are, it is the clear responsibility of the salon to ensure they have the appropriate protocols in place to prohibit underage use,” he said.
“Thankfully the vast majority of the industry is run by professional operators who comply with the law.”
Gary Lipman, chairman of The Sunbed Association - the voice for the industry - stressed the importance of following safety guidelines when using tanning beds.
He said: ‘It is absolutely essential that all sunbed users wear appropriate protective eyewear when using a sunbed - and the same should apply when sunbathing
‘Simply closing your eyelids or covering the eyes is not sufficient to protect them from ultraviolet light, as it can penetrate the eyelid skin.
‘It is a requirement of the British Standard that covers sunbeds that appropriate protective eyewear is worn throughout the tanning session.
‘Anyone seeking correct advice and information about using a sunbed responsibly should use a salon in membership of The Sunbed Association, where staff are properly trained to screen customers to check for any contra-indications to tanning and ensure they are informed about all aspects of responsible tanning, including the necessity of wearing appropriate protective eyewear.’
On the plus side, TSA is increasingly being asked for a comment on UV matters, so at the very least we are being given the opportunity to put our position forward at the time of broadcast or publication, rather than post-event.
The past few months have also seen an uplift in activity from the anti-sunbed lobby. This included some ‘new’ research claiming a ban on sunbeds would save the NHS money and resources. We issued an extremely robust rebuttal of the research findings which achieved excellent coverage. More recently a question in the House of Commons asked the Minister (of Health) whether he would consider a sunbed ban. Once parliament returns from its summer recess and we know who the Minister for Health will be, we will be requesting a meeting.
These are just another couple of examples why our new research initiative (I Use a Sunbed Because…) will provide us with invaluable data to help evidence the facts about the professional indoor tanning industry.
At a time when every penny counts, have you looked at the financial savings you could make with Global Payments?
As part of your Sunbed Association membership, we have partnered up with Global Payments to offer.
l Receive a payment processing business review.
l Next day settlement of funds at no cost, to keep your cash flow moving.
l Zero set-up fees and preferential rates for members.
l Cover up to 100% exit fees.
l Dedicated point of contact.
Scan
For more information contact Salim Patel at Global Payments on 07583 035 148 or email him salim.patel@globalpay.com
Cher Jones, Director at Wolstanton Tanning & Beauty in Newcastle Under Lyne, moved to Global Payments and said “We are really pleased we made the switch. I am not a very technically minded person at all, so I was a little dubious about how easy it would be to change terminals over and get the new device up and running. But it was really easy, the instructions explained everything really well and when I called for some assistance with a particular cable, the lady was really helpful and explained how we could get our transactions going through even faster.
“We are thrilled with the speed of the device and the fact it is now linked straight to our wifi means if the phone rings it doesn’t hinder any transactions going through. Previously we had no end of problems with transactions being declined because the phone was ringing or a call was being taken.
“Our monthly terminal fees and transaction charges are less than we were previously paying, so with the much faster and more efficient services as well, it’s a win, win, win for us and we would definitely recommend switching to Global Payments.”
As a TSA member did you know you can access our training options at a 50% discount.
This manual has been designed to provide all the appropriate knowledge for in-house training and is suitable for compliance with the training requirements of TSA’s Code of Practice.
Cost: £40 + VAT for members (£80 + VAT for non-members).
An independent learning course where the Learner prepares and submits answers to 5 detailed criteria. Upon successful completion of all 5 criteria the Learner is awarded their certificate. This course can be done in your own time and your own pace and includes a copy of TSA’s Training Manual as a resource to be used together with the Learner’s own knowledge and research.
Cost: £150 + VAT per Learner for members (£299 + VAT for non-members).
Our 2022 Mystery Shopper visits have been completed!
The valuable data from these audits enables us to evidence membership compliance with our Code of Practice and, should matters not be spot on in a particular salon, it provides an opportunity to revisit protocols and ensure procedures are as they should be to ensure consistent responsible tanning.
From September you will see enhanced activity across TSA’s social media platforms as we have appointed an agency to undertake this important role.
It would be great to have your feedback as always and please also ensure you are following us and using our SM hashtags in your own posts wherever possible:
#RESPONSIBLETANNING
#LUV2TAN
#TSAMEMBERSARETHEBEST
You can also download and use the Proud Member of The Sunbed Association logo from the Members’ Zone on our website.
Sunbed-Association UK-Ireland
@SunbedAssnUKIre
@sunbedassociationukireland
The audits are undertaken by Serve Legal, the market leading provider of ID and compliance testing services in the UK & Ireland. TSA has a rolling programme of auditing each member every other year, although Covid obviously put a halt on audits in 2020 and 2021.
For the first time in 2022, we included a small number of commercially valuable points to audit, believing this could be useful feedback for our members. These included customer service, lotion sales, promotions, cleanliness and customer retention.
As you would expect, we will automatically contact a member if any part of the compliance audit needs addressing but for feedback on the commercial points, please get in touch with TSA’s office by phone or email and we will check whether your salon was part of the 2022 audit. Please bear in mind that we only audit 50% of members each year.
Address: The Sunbed Association, 2 Beverley Court, 26 Elmtree Road, Teddington TW11 8ST.
T: 020 8398 3111
Notice is hereby given that the upcoming Annual General Meeting of the members of The Sunbed Association will be held at 1pm on Thursday 13th October 2022 at Luxury Leisure, Fifth Avenue Plaza, Queensway, Team Valley Trading Estate, Gateshead, NE11 0BL. Papers will be available in the Members Zone of the website by Monday 12th September 2022.
Members planning to attend the AGM should notify gillperkins@ sunbedassociation.org.uk no later than Thursday 22nd September 2022.
Please remember to keep us informed of any changes to your contact details, business address details and of course if you are expanding your business with new locations!
As a reminder it is a requirement of our Code of Practice that all salons in a chain or owned by a member must be in membership.
Address ROI: The Sunbed Association, 5 Fitzwilliam Square East, Dublin 2.
T: 01 636 3139
E: info@sunbedassociation.org.uk
W: sunbedassociation.org.uk
Sunbed-Association UK-Ireland
@SunbedAssnUKIre
@sunbedassociationukireland
