Hello and welcome

The magazine of the National Hair & Beauty Federation

THE NHBF

One Abbey Court Fraser Road Priory Business Park Bedford MK44 3WH 01234 831965 nhbf.co.uk sfenquiries@salonfocus.co.uk CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Richard Lambert

INTERIM DIRECTOR OF MARKETING

Lucy Watson-Smith lucy.watson-smith@nhbf.co.uk 01234 834386

EDITORIAL

Editor Emma Godfrey emma@salonfocusmagazine.co.uk Deputy editor Katie Smith Assistant editor Hollie Ewers Content sub-editors James Hundleby,

Kate Bennett

DESIGN

Lead designer Carrie Bremner Picture researcher Claire Echavarry ADVERTISING

advertising@salonfocusmagazine.co.uk 020 7880 6230 PRODUCTION

Production director Jane Easterman Account director Emma Godfrey emma@salonfocusmagazine.co.uk 020 7324 2751 PRINTER

Manson Group, St Albans COVER ILLUSTRATION

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© The NHBF 2021

All views expressed in salonfocus are not necessarily those of the NHBF. All eff orts have been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information published in salonfocus. However, the publisher accepts no responsibility for any inaccuracies or errors and omissions in the information produced in this publication. No information contained in this publication may be used or reproduced without the prior permission of the NHBF. Recycle your magazine’s plastic wrap. Check your local LDPE facilities to fi nd out how. NHBF PRESIDENT IAN EGERTON

WITHOUT YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT AND ENGAGEMENT, WE WOULD NOT BE THE ASSOCIATION WE ARE "

W

elcome to your Autumn issue of salonfocus. It’s with joy and gratitude we pay tribute to the NHBF’s recent well-deserved award wins.

July’s National Association Awards ceremony was a big day for us, as we brought home three trophies: gold for Membership Organisation of the Year (1 to 10,000) and Best Social Media, and silver for Best Covid Response. It’s thanks to you that this has been achieved – without your continued support and engagement, we would not be the association we are, standing tall within our sector.

With the industry back up and running, we will keep you up to date to ensure you have everything you need to run a legally sound, successful business. We’ve had to work together to refocus, reset and rebuild our industry, and are delighted to hear that Members have done such an amazing job of transforming their businesses. However, we must continue to evolve the way we work. We are working on projects to better support you and your business, and hope to bring you more on this in the coming weeks.

Now is the time to plan and set goals for 2022. But before that, we have Christmas to look forward to and wowing clients with amazing services and gift packages (page 30).

An online store can help grow your business, but where do you start when setting one up? From web design to on-the-ground logistics, fi nd top tips for building an online store on page 44.

Upskilling employees is crucial right now. While we try to ease the skills shortage with apprenticeship support (page 24), we must also look at people who are already in the sector. Training is essential to maintain employee morale, meet regulatory requirements and keep clients happy. See page 32 for our checklist on how to keep pace.

There’s been a lot of noise about Amazon’s hair salon, but is it really a threat to our sector? Find out what we can learn from it on page 16.

As we move into winter, it’s vital to look after your mental health and spot when staff are struggling. We have lots of resources on our website, but the simplest way to alleviate stress is to be kind to yourself and others.

Finally, keep your eyes peeled this month for the NHBF Member survey. We’d love your feedback on what you fi nd most useful as a Member and what we can do to improve.