salonfocus November - December 2016

£3.50 Nov/Dec 2016

The essential magazine for salon owners

PARTY PERFECT Make your salon the perfect place to get glammed up this Christmas

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Protect your business from ‘ransomware’

28

How insisting on an allergy test saved a client’s life

34

Tap into industry experts with the new NHF Business Academy

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Contents

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P6 NEWS NHF salons triumph at the British Hairdressing Business Awards P10 RATES OF CHANGE How next year’s business rates revaluation could affect your salon P12 PARTY PERFECT Turn your salon into your high street’s go-to Christmas glamour destination P18 NAME CHECK With the relationship between hair and beauty becoming ever closer, the NHF is unveiling new branding that better reflects its diverse membership base P20 THE NHF’S NEW LOOK FOR 2017 With a new logo and new member-based artwork, the NHF will be making an impact in 2017.

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P24 HELD TO RANSOM The traumatic tale of one salon’s experience of being hijacked by “ransomware” P26 STAR ATTRACTION Five ways to beat bad online reviews P28 COLOUR CONSCIOUS An NHF member’s insistence on a client having an allergy alert prevented a tragedy, and almost certanly saved her life.

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P30 STYLE COUNSEL Stunning images from this year’s NHF Incredibles photoshoots P32 GIFT WRAPPED Why HABB has relaunched as The Hairdressers’ Charity P34 SUCCESS STORY Inside the new NHF Business Academy, and how it can help your business to become even more successful

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P38 EVENTS COVER IMAGE Westrow Street Lane’s latest collection “Ethereal.” See pages 12-17 for more images from this collection.

CONNECT WITH US AND HAVE YOUR COMMENTS AND TWEETS IN THE NEXT ISSUE OF SALONFOCUS Nov/Dec 2016 | salonfocus

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Welcome

PRESIDENT’S

L E T T E R SALONFOCUS IS PUBLISHED BY: National Hairdressers’ Federation, One Abbey Court, Fraser Road, Priory Business Park, Bedford MK44 3WH t: +44 (0) 1234 831965 f: +44 (0) 1234 838875 e: sfenquiries@salonfocus.co.uk w: www.nhf.info PUBLISHER Hilary Hall e: hilary.hall@nhf.info EDITOR Nic Paton e: nic@cormorantmedia.co.uk EVENTS AND SOCIAL MEDIA Victoria Priestley t: +44 (0) 1234 834386 e: Victoria.Priestley@nhf.info ADVERTISING SALES MANAGER Andy Etherton T: + 44 (0) 1536 527297 e: andy.etherton@nhf.info DESIGN AND PRODUCTION Sam Greenwood Matrix Print Consultants Ltd t: +44 (0) 1536 527297 e: sam@matrixprint.com While every care is taken in compiling this issue of salonfocus including manuscripts and photographs submitted, we accept no responsibility for any losses or damage, whatever the cause. All information and prices contained in advertisements are accepted by the publishers in good faith as being correct at the time of going to press.

Neither the advertisers nor the publishers accept any responsibility for any variations affecting price variations or availability after the publication has gone to press. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the permission of the publisher, to whom application must first be made. The views expressed by contributors to salonfocus are not necessarily those of the NHF, the publisher or its editor. © 2016 The National Hairdressers’ Federation.

Material for consideration in this section of the magazine should be submitted via email or digital file transfer to the editor, salonfocus. Submissions should be made on the understanding that the National Hairdressers’ Federation has the right to use the material in any part of the magazine and any of its other publications, promotions or website, free from any copyright restrictions, or appearance fees other than the issue of artistic and photographic credits where applicable. Please include salon name, photographer and stylist.

hristmas and the New Year are, of course, one of the busiest times for many salons, and the signs are this festive season is going to be buoyant. Here’s to hoping we’re all rushed off our feet over the next few weeks!

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As we show in this edition, one way for salons to maximise their earnings during this vital period is to turn themselves into a festive “destination”, somewhere clients come to to get ready for a night out, for a bit of pampering or just to treat themselves. And that also ABOUT AGNES increasingly applies to barber shops.

Agnes Leonard is president of the Beauty services are a key element within NHF and a registered hairdresser.

She has worked in the industry this mix, whether you’re a hairdressing for 36 years and owns Croppers Hair Studio in Dundee, a busy, salon offering add-on services or a barber family-run salon successfully adapting to the fast-changing shop extending into male grooming, or retail environment – just, in fact, whether your core business is beauty. like many NHF members up and down the country.

And that’s why we’ve been discussing with members whether the name NHF – the National Hairdressers’ Federation – is the best, most appropriate name for our modern-day identity.

We’ve decided that, yes, the NHF name is still very much the right one, for now. But please do take a look at the new branding we’ve created. This highlights much more clearly the fact the NHF is for the whole industry: hairdressing salons, hair and beauty salons, beauty salons and barber shops.

I wish you all a very merry, lucrative and (when you finally get there) relaxing Christmas and New Year.

AGNES LEONARD NHF president

COMING UP IN JAN/FEB 2017 is the NHF’s 75th anniversary – let the celebrations begin!

How to make extra services all about extra income rather than just extra work

salonfocus | Nov/Dec 2016

All the buzz, and the winners, from Britain’s Best and the NHF Photographic Stylist of the Year

Do you have a salon story to tell? Would you like to be featured in salonfocus?

Get in touch with the team, on 01234 834385, or send an email to nic@cormorantmedia.co.uk

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News

NHF SALONS TRIUMPH IN BUSINESS AWARDS

NHF WINNERS Salon of the Year 2 Perfectly Posh Hair Design, Hungerford, Berkshire Manager of the Year Claire Louise Timlin, En Route Hair & Beauty, Wakefield, West Yorkshire Male Grooming Salon of the Year Christian Wiles Hairdressing, Northampton, Northamptonshire Customer Care Award Reed Hair, Maldon, Essex Retail Salon of the Year The Company of Master Barbers, Southport

DOUBLE WINNERS: THE REED HAIR TEAM, LED BY VICKI MEREDITH AND JANE WILLIAMS

HF member salons “I did not think we had a chance because the guys we were up against have won more than were so good. We were up last so it half of this year’s British Hairdressing Business Awards. was quite a nerve-wracking wait.

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In all, NHF salons won in nine out of the 17 categories (see panel opposite) in the awards in September, which are run by Hairdressers’ Journal International.

The fact NHF salons were so prominently represented among this year’s winners was a clear indication of the effectiveness of the Federation in supporting and guiding member salons to be business champions for the industry.

“We are absolutely ecstatic! This award means so much to us as customer care is fundamental to our business; we are so passionate about it and it is so important,” said Vicki Meredith, co-owner (along with her sister Jane Williams) of Reed Hair, winner in the Customer Care and Front of House Team categories.

But I am absolutely over the moon,” Christian Wiles, owner of Christian Wiles Hairdressing, and winner in the Male Grooming Salon of the Year, told salonfocus.

“We’re still a bit in shock. I had never even entered before so it was a real shock,” agreed Krysia Eddery, salon director of Perfectly Posh Hair Design, winner in one of the two Salon of the Year category awards.

“It was an amazing experience. When we won I could barely speak; it was just incredible. Hopefully it will be huge boost to the salon; we’re really hitting social media about it,” she added.

See page 12 for tips from some of our winners on how to make your salon a glamour destination this Christmas.

Front of House Team of the Year Reed Hair, Maldon, Essex Salon Stylist of the Year Chloe Ascott, Hare & Bone, London Salon Design Award Daniel Granger Hairdressing, Northampton, Northamptonshire Junior of the Year Mischa McLean, Rainbow Room International, Uddingston, South Lanarkshire

WORKPLACE SEXISM More than half (52%) of women, and nearly two-thirds (63%) aged 18-24 years old, say they have experienced sexual harassment at work, according to research from the union body the TUC. The study, a collaboration with the Everyday Sexism Project, also concluded nearly a third (32%) of women had been subject to unwelcome jokes of a sexual nature while at work, more than one in four (28%) had been

salonfocus | Nov/Dec 2016

the subject of comments of a sexual nature about their body or clothes at work, and nearly a quarter (23%) had experienced unwanted touching, such as a hand on the knee or lower back at work.

A fifth (20%) said they had experienced unwanted verbal sexual advances at work and around one in eight (12%) said they had experienced unwanted sexual touching or attempts to kiss them at work.

News

A CASHLESS CHRISTMAS?

The UK could become largely a cashless society within 20 years, the credit card company Mastercard has predicted.

The rapid growth in contactless payment technology, which it calculated is increasing by some 326% year-onyear, now means more than two thirds (68%) of UK consumers believe cashless technologies will completely replace physical money by 2036, with fashion accessories set to be a key contactless purchase, it said.

Research published in the summer suggested spending on contactless cards in the first half of 2016 had already outstripped spending in this way for the whole of 2015.

Some £9.27bn was spent using contactless methods between January

and June of this year, according to figures from The UK Cards Association, more than the total 2015 contactless spend of £7.75bn.

This Christmas is likely to see, once again, a sharp rise in online shopping as well as card and contactless spending.

E-commerce consultancy Salmon has predicted shoppers will spend £5bn over the course of an extended five-day “cyber weekend” from Thursday 24 November through to Monday 28 November.

Separately, the NHF has published a guide to salon software, including a section on payment technologies.

The NHF Guide to Card Payment Processing, in association with Global Payments, is available to members as a download at nhf.info/nhf-guides/

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HEALTH WORRIES Almost of a third (30%) of micro business owners work more than 48 hours a week, while nearly half (44%) have been unable to take a holiday in the past six months, research has argued.

The survey by software company FreeAgent also found 6% admitted to working more than 64 hours a week.

Separately, a poll by online marketplace Bizdaq has warned 1.3 million small business owners could be putting their health at risk because of working long hours.

Many small business owners worked an additional 13 hours per week – putting in 50.5 hours a week instead of the UK average of 37.

Some 660,000 felt their business was having an impact on their mental health and more than half a million had not taken a holiday to unwind since they opened their venture, it added.

CHARGE CUTS PLASTIC BAG USE Around 90% of people in England are now taking their own bags with them when food shopping as a result of the introduction of the 5p plastic carrier bag charge last year, research has revealed.

This has increased from 70% before the charge was introduced and is independent of age, gender or income, according to the research carried out by Cardiff University.

It was the first study to look at the attitudes and behaviours of English shoppers since the single-use carrier bag charge was introduced in October 2015.

The study also found a significant increase in people taking their own carrier bags to shops other than supermarkets.

Half said they now regularly took their own bags when shopping for clothes and healthcare products, compared with only a tenth before the charge was introduced.

The English experience very much echoes what happened in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, where charging was introduced in 2011, 2013 and 2014 respectively.

Nov/Dec 2016 | salonfocus

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News

‘MICROBEADS’ TO BE BANNED he government has announced plans to ban plastic “microbeads” used in cosmetics and cleaning products by 2017.

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The move followed a Parliamentary report that called for cosmetics companies to be prohibited from incorporating the tiny pieces of plastic into products such as exfoliating scrubs, toothpaste and shaving gels.

Because microbeads are solid plastic particles and do not biodegrade, there are concerns around the effect they have on the environment and in terms of pollution, especially within the Earth’s oceans.

Environment secretary Andrea Leadsom said in September a consultation on how a ban might work will be held later this year.

A number of cosmetic companies have already

made voluntary commitments to phase out the use of microbeads by 2020.

The Cosmetics, Toiletry and Perfumery Association said its members will have removed plastic microbeads well ahead of this 2020 deadline, with a full phase-out expected by 2018.

Director general Dr Chris Flower said a survey of the association’s members had shown the use of microbeads had “decreased significantly” in the past year, and was down 70% on October 2015.

“Although the cosmetics industry is taking action, micro-plastics and pollution persists and is contributed to by numerous sources. We look to government to address plastics pollution on a wider basis to understand the scale of the problem and work towards a sustainable solution,” he added.

C-STORES BOOST HIGH STREETS Local convenience stores bring in some £5bn to the UK economy every year and are becoming an increasingly important hub for many high streets, a report by the Association of Convenience Stores has argued.

In a snapshot of the health of the market, it concluded there are now some 50,095 convenience stores in the UK, employing almost 390,000 people.

Much like many small hair and beauty salons and

salonfocus | Nov/Dec 2016

barber shops, the report found convenience store owners often work long hours, with a quarter (24%) working more than 70 hours a week and a fifth (22%) not taking a holiday last year.

Three quarters (74%) were first-time business owners, rather than inheriting their business, while 24% had been in business for more than 25 years and more than half (54%) employed at least one other family member, it added.

News

TWITTER FOLLOWERS 10,247

FACEBOOK LIKES 11,654

INSTAGRAM LIKES 1,026

WHAT’S

PHILIP KINGSLEY Celebrated trichologist Philip Kingsley sadly passed away in September, his family has announced.

Philip, who was credited with coining the phrase “bad hair day”, included celebrities such as Sir Laurence Olivier, Cate Blanchett, Eva Herzigova, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sienna Miller, Jane Fonda and Victoria Beckham among his clients.

He was perhaps best known for creating in 1976 the world’s first pre-shampoo hair masque, Elasticizer. He also wrote four books and a popular hair advice column in The Sunday Times magazine Style.

He was one of the first people to link hair health with nutrition and wellbeing, believing the traditional hair classifications of “normal”, “oily” and “dry” were inaccurate, and introducing the concept of “fine”, “medium”, “coarse” and “African-Caribbean” hair textures.

“Throughout his career, Philip provided solutions to the most extreme hair and scalp problems, as well as help and reassurance to those who simply wanted the best from their hair,” said

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TRENDING WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON ONLINE REVIEWS? Radiant Hair @RadiantHairC They can be both a curse and a joy. My advice is to respond quickly and positively to any negative reviews.

Mr Hair Care @misterhaircare They need to be monitored and dealt with even if they are not that great, no news spreads as quickly as bad news.

a spokesperson for his company, Philip Kingsley.

He is survived by his wife Joan and daughters Anabel, a fellow trichologist and his company’s director of communications, Kate, a novelist, Sue, a pharmaceutical consultant, and Helen, a curator and archaeologist.

DO YOU ASK YOUR CLIENTS TO LEAVE ONLINE REVIEWS? Easydry @easydryintl Online reviews are hugely powerful.

Positively or negatively.

Evangeline Barrett @ Evangeline_HAIR Yes always! It’s a great way to display our standards of service the client received!

HOW DO YOU HANDLE BAD ONLINE REVIEWS? Easydry @easydryintl You should have a process for bad reviews.

Be honest. Be polite.

Be fair.

FLOODS WARNING The UK can expect to experience 20-30% more extreme rainfall downpours in future years, the government has said as part of its National Flood Resilience review.

Climate change could lead to an increased risk of flooding emergencies, with energy, transport, water and communications links all being knocked out, it warned.

As a result, any new flood defence plans needed

to anticipate significantly highly levels of extreme rainfall, it argued.

The Federation of Small Businesses, meanwhile, has warned that up to 75,000 smaller businesses at risk of flooding could struggle to find affordable flood insurance, as small businesses are not covered by the new “Food Re” scheme set up by the insurance industry to help provide affordable flood protection insurance cover.

However, Kevin Stratton, product development manager at the NHF’s preferred broker Coversure Insurance Services, said it was able to use sophisticated mapping and actuarial data to classify an individual salon’s flood risk.

“We can assess the risk property by property, rather than just by postcode, to provide affordable flood risk cover, unless there are specific exclusions,” he told salonfocus.

Hairco & Beauty @Haircoandbeauty If we receive bad reviews we tend to pay more attention to that client! Trying to turn a one-star review to a five-star review is always advised.

See our advice on how to manage bad reviews, page 26

JOIN IN THE CONVERSATION @nhfederation @NHFederation facebook.com/national hairdressersfederation

Nov/Dec 2016 | salonfocus

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Business rates

RATES OF CHANGE A REVALUATION PROCESS MEANS WHAT YOU PAY IN BUSINESS RATES COULD CHANGE NEXT APRIL. SALONS ARE BEING URGED TO GO ONLINE TO CHECK.

air and beauty salons and barber shops, especially those in the more affluent areas of London or south east England, are being warned their business rates could change from next April, as a much-delayed business rates revaluation comes into force.

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During the autumn many salons began to receive notices from the government’s Valuation Office Agency (VOA) warning them that an “uprating” of business rates was now in progress.

The good news is that, as of last month (October), businesses have been able to check online what their new rate will be and therefore begin to prepare for any change. To do so, simply go online and type in your details at gov.uk/voa/revaluation ‘LARGEST CHANGES IN A GENERATION’ The 2017 revaluation has been described by estate agent Colliers International as a process that “will produce the largest changes to business rates for high street retailers in a generation”.

Business rates are based on the rental value of your premises, and are normally revalued every five years.

However, the last revaluation only came into effect back in April 2010 and even then was based on the rateable value of properties as of 1 April 2008, and so updating things is now quite overdue.

As property prices have, of course, risen steeply in many areas since 2008, especially in London, the south and the south east, this means many businesses eligible

AS PROPERTY PRICES HAVE RISEN STEEPLY IN MANY AREAS SINCE 2008, ESPECIALLY IN LONDON, THE SOUTH AND THE SOUTH EAST, MANY BUSINESSES COULD SEE THEIR RATES GOING UP QUITE SHARPLY

salonfocus | Nov/Dec 2016

to pay rates (as the smallest businesses can benefit from Small Business Rate Relief) could see their rates going up quite sharply.

THRESHOLD FOR RATES RELIEF The other possible challenge for a small business is if the revaluation takes it above the £12,000 threshold for 100% Small Business Rate Relief (and see the panel opposite for how this works). This could mean it has to start paying rates for the first time.

Of course, for some businesses it could mean the opposite: that they move below the £12,000 threshold and as a result become eligible for 100% relief.

However, the government has also emphasised that a change in rateable value may not necessarily mean a change in business rates. It is also arguing nearly three out of every four businesses will see their bills fall or stay the same.

The VOA is stressing that, once you’ve viewed your draft revaluation, if you feel any details are incorrect, you should get in touch with it as soon as possible, and certainly before your local council calculates your bill, as after that it is much harder to get things changed.

If you feel your revaluation is wrong you will need to set out your reasoning for this, put forward an alternative rating or valuation, and back this up with supporting evidence.

In England and Wales, you can also appeal against your rates bill to an independent Valuation Tribunal.

In Scotland, you can appeal to a local Valuation Appeal Committee, the Lands Tribunal and, ultimately, the Lands Valuation Appeal Court.

NEW APPEALS SYSTEM Bear in mind, however, that a new appeals system is also being introduced from next April, and is already causing concern among business groups.

The government is keen to reduce the number of appeals being brought and so has proposed that, from next April, the Valuation Tribunal for England will only be allowed to use a narrower range of criteria in determining whether it can order a rates bill to be adjusted.

A number of business groups, have written to the government calling the proposed changes “unjust”.

The revaluation process is applying to businesses in England, Scotland and Wales, although there is no date set as yet for Northern Ireland.

HOW SMALL BUSINESS RATE RELIEF WORKS Currently a business can get 100% Small Business Rate Relief – in other words not have to pay any business rates at all – if it only uses one property, and that property’s rateable value is less than £6,000.

This is due to double from April 2017 to £12,000 and be made a permanent relief.

Any businesses with a rateable value of between £6,001 and £12,000 also currently receives tapered relief, in other words the relief gradually decreases from 100% to the business paying full rates.

From April 2017 this tapered relief will now cover properties with a rateable value of between £12,001 and £15,000.

More details on how Small Business Rate Relief works can be found on the government’s gov.uk website.

Nov/Dec 2016 | salonfocus

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Becoming a glamour “destination�

Becoming a glamour “destination”

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PARTY PERFECT HOW CAN HAIRDRESSERS AND BEAUTY THERAPISTS ENSURE THEIR SALON IS THE GLAMOUR DESTINATION FOR CLIENTS GETTING READY TO PARTY THIS CHRISTMAS? AND, WITH MALE GROOMING BOOMING, HOW CAN BARBERS GET IN ON THE ACT? SALONFOCUS PUT ON ITS GLAD RAGS.

ittle black number – tick. Terrifyingly high shoes – tick. Clutch bag – tick.

Pre-night out fizz in the fridge – tick.

Hair, make-up, nails, lashes? Well, that’s where NHF salons – hair and beauty – can make a big difference this Christmas, both to clients and to their own bottom lines.

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Barber shops, too, are increasingly seeing demand from men for what we might term the “pre-night out” market, for beard and moustache maintenance, shaving, facials and grooming, among other services.

What’s more, if salons and barber shops proactively promote and position themselves as their high street’s pre-night out “destination”, they’ll have a much better chance of making sure sales don’t dip sharply during January and February, once the party season is over.

Whether you’re a hair salon with beauty tacked on or a standalone beauty salon, it’s beauty services and treatments that can often hold the key at Christmas and beyond, explains NHF beauty coach Susan Routledge, of Susan Routledge Consultancy in County Durham.

“It is about using the beauty side of your business to generate loyalty and encourage clients to try out, and spend money on, new services. What a lot hair and beauty salons tend to do is focus on trying to keep clients loyal in the run-up to Christmas, so ensuring they come in for their regular services,” says Susan, who is a member of the NHF’s new coaching service (and see page 34 for more on this).

“That’s fine, but you should also be thinking about using this period as a way of introducing clients to new services they may not have thought about before. So it might be something like offering a gift voucher if you try three or four different services.

“It might be about getting clients to think about a series of appointments to have the perfect nails or lashes during the period, or making a link to home-care products, which could also be Christmas gifts.

“You can do things around friends and family offers, as you’re more likely to be getting clients coming in as groups or parties – if they’re all getting ready for a big occasion or night out, perhaps – and that can be an opportunity to build loyalty. This can also, of course,

help to create a great atmosphere in the salon,” Susan adds.

EXPRESS SERVICES “There is mileage in offering packages, but it is a good idea to be offering packages throughout the year, not just at Christmas. And people increasingly want things done quickly – they may want to come in after work to get ready quickly for a night out. So it’s about express styling, up dos, plaits, dry cuts, instant dry nail gels, and so on,” recommends Debbie Elderton, of Arcana Salons, Milton Keynes.

“One thing we do is to try and make it a bit more zonal.

So it’ll be a 30-minute makeover for your eyes, or your face and brows or, a bit more expensive, a full facial. But clients can pick and choose. Social media like Instagram is also great for showing clients what you can do for them,” explains Debbie.

PEOPLE INCREASINGLY WANT THINGS DONE QUICKLY – THEY MAY WANT TO COME IN AFTER WORK TO GET READY QUICKLY FOR A NIGHT OUT. SO IT’S ABOUT EXPRESS STYLING, UP DOS, PLAITS, DRY CUTS, INSTANT DRY NAIL GELS, AND SO ON. “With retail you need to have a strong visual presence in the window and at the reception. Because the salon is likely to be so busy, it helps if clients can browse your retail selection while they’re waiting. Some affordable stocking fillers on the counter are also a good idea,” she adds.

However, other salons, such as Reed Hair in Maldon, Essex, encourage clients to see getting ready as an occasion in itself rather than an express stop, as

Nov/Dec 2016 | salonfocus

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Becoming a glamour “destination”

co-owner Vicki Meredith outlines.

“We’re quite a high end salon with a spa environment.

If someone is coming in to get ready for a night out we encourage them to spend a couple of hours with us being pampered, rather than a just having a quick fix,” she says.

“We’re fully licensed and can offer Prosecco, wine or beer to get them in the mood for a celebration. We have a private lounge you can go to while your colour is developing, which is very calming, before you head out. We also try to link Christmas to nails, make-up, treatments and hair ups,” adds Vicki, who runs the salon

FROM A RETAIL PERSPECTIVE, IT’S ALWAYS VERY MUCH ABOUT ADVICE, NOT SELLING. THE PRODUCTS GET TALKED ABOUT ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE SERVICE, NOT JUST AT RECEPTION.

salonfocus | Nov/Dec 2016

with her sister Jane Williams, and was a winner in this year’s British Hairdressing Business Awards (see News for more on this).

“For us, January doesn’t really get quiet. We send clients a personal Christmas card with a gift voucher inside, normally £10-20 off hair services. But it has to be spent within the next six weeks, so that encourages them to come back in January,” she says.

“It does cost quite a lot to do but the clients love it, and it makes them book for January more quickly. We used to do discounts, but now our focus is very much always on adding value and finding ways to say ‘thank you’ to clients.

“From a retail perspective, we’re a ghd salon, and that just flies off the shelves. But it’s always very much about advice, not selling. The products get talked about all the way through the service, not just at reception,” Vicki adds.

CANAPES AND CHAMPAGNE “We hold a Christmas event evening, with canapes and champagne. Clients get a complimentary neck and hand massage and we teach them about hair ups and make-up, which we put together as a party package,” says Krysia Eddery, salon director of Perfectly Posh in Hungerford,

Becoming a glamour “destination”

IMAGES The images on these two pages are from Westrow Street Lane’s latest collection “Ethereal.”

Hair: Westrow Street Lane Photography: Paul Gill Make-up: Zoe Peplow

who was also a winner in this year’s British Hairdressing Business Awards.

“Our hair packages do extremely well – so well in fact that we do not have to advertise them outside the salon because we are so busy as it is. We do a lot of retail too, a lot of special offers. For example, we do a ‘golden ticket’ promotion where we put a ticket in some product boxes, offering anything from a cut and blow dry to a treatment, which clients can win.

“If a client comes in in December, they also get a voucher that they can only use in January. It’s not massive – normally just £5 off – but it does encourage them to come back; we also try to encourage them to book at least two appointments.

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“We also do a voucher sale. For every voucher bought we offer the equivalent, for free. So if you buy a £50 voucher as a present, then you get a £50 equivalent for free yourself, but it can only be used in January.

“This has meant that for the past two years we’ve not had to struggle at all in January or February. In fact, we’re currently fully booked up until March, which is a nice position to be in,” Krysia adds.

WE DO A LOT OF RETAIL, A LOT OF SPECIAL OFFERS. FOR EXAMPLE, WE DO A ‘GOLDEN TICKET’ PROMOTION WHERE WE PUT A TICKET IN SOME PRODUCT BOXES, OFFERING ANYTHING FROM A CUT AND BLOW DRY TO A TREATMENT, WHICH CLIENTS CAN WIN.

Nov/Dec 2016 | salonfocus

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Becoming a glamour “destination”

THE MALE GROOMING CHRISTMAS MARKET Finally, what about men? Men’s grooming and styling are increasingly big business. Earlier this year, the menswear website Mrporter.com reported it had seen a 300% growth in men’s beauty and grooming products last year, and the UK is among the world’s top 10 boom markets for male toiletries.

For hairdressing salons and barber shops, this growing appetite for male grooming and beauty products and services is definitely something that can be tapped into in the run-up to Christmas, agrees Christian Wiles, of Christian Wiles Hairdressing in Northampton.

Like Vicki and Krysia, Christian was a winner in this year’s British Hairdressing Business Awards – in the Male Grooming Salon of the Year category – and argues men can be just as lucrative a festive market.

“One thing I have noticed is that, if you have separate floors, as we do, the behaviour patterns between men and women change completely. If

IF A GUY IS IN A VERY FEMALE ENVIRONMENT HE’S LESS LIKELY TO TALK AS MUCH AND OPEN UP, BUT WHEN IT’S JUST THEM, YOU CAN ASK MUCH MORE EASILY ABOUT THINGS LIKE COLOUR OR PRODUCT OR GROOMING. THEY JUST DON’T WANT TO BE HAVING THOSE DISCUSSIONS IN A ‘SALON’ ENVIRONMENT. a guy is in a very female environment he’s less likely to talk as much and open up, but when it’s just them, you can ask much more easily about things like colour or product or grooming. They just don’t want to be having those discussions in a ‘salon’ environment,” he explains.

His product retail sale ratio has gone “through the roof”, Chris says, since launching a dedicated floor for male grooming and services 18 months ago.

Whereas before he would expect around 5-10% retail sales per 100 clients, it’s now more like 20-25%.

Initiatives include a loyalty scheme that offers a discount if men rebook within four weeks and a pre-pay scheme whereby a client can buy a £250 card upfront for a year’s haircuts, but then use it as many times as they like during the year. With men’s cuts being priced at £20-£25, this can quickly become attractive for the client too.

“We often get mums, wives and girlfriends buying vouchers for male grooming services,” Christian says.

“We also run ‘ale and shave’ nights where we can showcase services on a model – haircuts, beards and shaves – and talk clients through what we can offer. Men will happily spend money on something as long as you can show them the value of what that is,” he adds.

Krysia Eddery salonfocus | Nov/Dec 2016

Christian Wiles

Susan Routledge

Debbie Elderton

Vicki Meredith

Becoming a glamour “destination�

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Nov/Dec 2016 | salonfocus

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NHF rebranding

NAME CHECK

WITH THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HAIR AND BEAUTY BECOMING EVER CLOSER, THE NHF ASKED MEMBERS IF NOW WAS THE TIME TO CHANGE ITS NAME TO BETTER REFLECT ITS MEMBERSHIP, AS CHIEF EXECUTIVE HILARY HALL EXPLAINS.

s most NHF members will know full well, the National Hairdressers’ Federation has long been the UK’s largest trade association for hairdressing, barbering and beauty salon owners.

A

And that’s an important point. The NHF represents the whole industry: hairdressing salons, hair and beauty salons, standalone beauty salons and barber shops.

But the name “NHF” does present a difficulty within this.

After all, it stands for the National Hairdressers’ Federation.

At one level, therefore, the NHF’s name does not fully reflect our modern-day identity. It does not do justice to our role as an organisation representing a broad, diverse membership. It does not reflect the fact this is an industry where the relationship between hair, beauty (including male grooming) and barbering is increasingly interlinked.

Yet, with the NHF approaching its 75th anniversary next year, the NHF’s initials and name are a “brand” that has powerful history and authority.

As a name, the National Hairdressers’ Federation is wellrecognised and familiar across the whole of the industry.

Almost as importantly, it is easily understood within Whitehall and Europe.

What, then, to do?

Ahead of next year’s 75th anniversary celebrations – of which there will be more in the January/February edition of salonfocus – we were already working on refreshing our logo and branding.

So it seemed a timely moment to widen the debate and get a sense of members’ views on this important issue.

MEMBER CONSULTATION Over the autumn we conducted a consultation to gauge how members felt about the possibility of the NHF changing its name from the National Hairdressers’ Federation to the National Hair & Beauty Federation so as to better reflect our membership base.

The result was that 62% of members who answered the consultation felt the name should change, against 38% who felt it should remain unchanged.

While this was a majority in favour of change, we recognised something this significant would need to be voted on by members at an extraordinary general meeting. For this it would require at least a two-thirds majority (66%), which this did not have.

Therefore, the decision has been to keep the NHF name as it is, unchanged, at least for now. But we are nevertheless adjusting our logo and branding to say: “Supporting the hair, beauty and barbering industries”.

We’ve also created new imagery featuring NHF members,

salonfocus | Nov/Dec 2016

including three salons from the Midlands, who are featured on this page and overleaf: Sarah Bowron, of Aesthetics Hair & Beauty, Simon Paul, of Simon Paul Hair & Beauty, and Dale Sampey, of The Barber House.

Please turn over the page to see the new-look logo and the rest of the imagery.

I am sure the NHF’s name is something we will need to continue to debate and discuss. In many respects there isn’t a “right” answer.

But, rest assured, whether you’re running a hair, beauty or barbering business, the NHF will continue to be there for you.

WHAT MEMBERS SAID WHAT SALONS WHO WERE IN FAVOUR OF CHANGING THE NAME FELT:

“ “ “ “ “ “

I am a member with a hair and beauty salon, and didn’t realise you cover beauty

I have used the helpline many times for issues occurring on the beauty side but have not really been 100% sure if the NHF dealt with beauty

The beauty trade is forever growing

WHAT SALONS WHO WANTED TO KEEP THE NAME FELT: I have a barber shop and would probably leave if you changed the name, as I would feel you wouldn’t represent us

It might dilute our purpose; beauty would take over

NHBF logo is clunky and difficult to say

NHF rebranding

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FACTS AND FIGURES

62%

Members in favour of changing the name of the NHF to National Hair & Beauty Federation

38%

Members who wanted to retain the existing name of National Hairdressers’ Federation

Nov/Dec 2016 | salonfocus

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NHF rebranding

THE NHF’S NEW LOOK

FOR 2017

WITH A NEW LOGO AND NEW MEMBER-BASED ARTWORK, THE NHF WILL BE MAKING AN IMPACT IN 2017. he NHF’s new logo has been designed to be clean, simple and bold. It recognises the heritage and history of the National Hairdressers’ Federation through the ongoing use of our well-recognised initials, NHF.

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But, with its new strapline – “Supporting the hair, beauty and barbering industries” – it emphasises the Federation is also inclusive and accessible, reaching beyond hairdressing and into the barbering and beauty sectors.

The teams at three member salons, Aesthetics Hair & Beauty, Simon Paul Hair & Beauty, and The Barber House, were also photographed and their imagery will be used to support the new branding.

Salonfocus spoke to the salon owners, Sarah Bowron, Simon Paul and Dale Sampey, to find why being a member of the NHF is so important to them. We hope you like our new look.

‘THE NHF FIGHTS OUR CORNER’ Sarah Bowron has run Aesthetics Hair & Beauty in Solihull for 16 years, and has been an NHF member from the day she opened the salon with partner Adrian. The salon has a team of more than 30 people.

As a business that offers both hair and beauty services, it’s great the NHF is rebranding to highlight this.

The NHF has always represented beauty as well as hair, but this rebranding is recognising that fact and highlighting the importance of beauty within our industry.

I don’t think your business can be taken seriously if you don’t belong to what is the most active and respected professional society within our industry.

To support and be linked to the NHF helps raise our industry standards. The more that professional salons become

salonfocus | Nov/Dec 2016

members and actively participate, the greater will be our collective voice and, in turn, the more recognised and respected our professional body, the NHF, will become.

It’s important the next generation of hairdressers are congratulated on their career choice, and that hairdressing and beauty is seen as the exciting, diverse and wonderful career we in the industry know it to be.

The NHF fights our corner in areas such as apprentice standards and on reducing VAT for what is a labourintensive industry.

It also keeps us informed on the National Minimum Wage and the National Living Wage, and what this means for small businesses.

As well as being available 24/7 for all employment and business-related legal matters, the NHF is a constant source of knowledge, knowledge that is specifically aimed at salon owners.

Every salon owner who cares about our industry’s standards, both creatively and from a business perspective, should join the NHF.

‘THE SAVINGS FROM AFFILIATED DISCOUNTS ALONE COVER THE COST OF MEMBERSHIP’ Simon Paul has been owner of Simon Paul Hair & Beauty in Solihull for 25 years, joining the NHF within 12 months of opening. It employs 18 team members and has two self-employed beauticians operating from the first floor of the salon.

We initially joined for the NHF because of the employment contracts and the legal advice. Over the years we have mostly used the Legal Lifeline to support us with challenges in relation to staffing disputes. It has been fantastic in supporting us on numerous occasions, especially to guide us through the right way to achieve the legal outcome we desired. It has been invaluable to us as a business.

We felt privileged to be involved in the rebrand photoshoot. I fully support any organisation that does so much to make hairdressing a professional industry to work within.

The salon business model is changing, with all the changes being introduced by the government – National Minimum Wage increases, the National Living Wage, pensions auto-enrolment, more HMRC checks and so on – and more costs coming through.

However, in my opinion this is all good for the industry. With the NHF duly keeping us informed, hopefully it will make salon owners step up to the plate and start running their salons correctly, paying their staff what they deserve and running their salons as a real “business” not just a “lifestyle”.

The NHF keeps members up to date with all you need to do, along with advice on how to deal with what’s ahead with changes. For me, it’s the best value for money you could spend. Especially if you want to be as up to date with what’s going on in the industry from

a business angle and to get all your current legal stuff correct – all under one membership.

The training workshops are also fantastic value to any salon owner wanting to learn more. The savings from affiliated discounts alone cover the cost of your membership. The NHF, in my opinion, is doing a great job of guiding and keeping salon owners on the right track and by the looks of things a rebrand/reinvent is what you need to stay current.

‘THIS NEW BRANDING WILL SHOW BARBERS THE NHF IS FOR THEM TOO’ Dale Sampey has run The Barber House in Birmingham for the past two-and-a-half years and joined the NHF when he launched the business. It employs 16 team members.

I’ve been in the industry for some 20 years but until The Barber House came along it had always been relatively small teams and shops. When I started this bigger business, I was talking to friend who had been a member for many years and he recommended I join because of the business support that’s offered, and he was absolutely right.

We’ve used the NHF for its employment contracts, the legal and employment advice and the pension, and it has been invaluable. I think it is a vital support. It is great to have someone you know you can talk to on the end of the phone, who can guide you through a problem or direct you in the right legal direction.

I think the rebranding is a great idea. The Federation has a history of being for hairdressers, which means potentially a lot of barbers will not know about it or, if they do, see the name and think it’s not something for them. Hopefully this will help to show barbers that the NHF is for them as well.

Nov/Dec 2016 | salonfocus

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Advertorial

My Business Hub:

A smart till that helps stylists focus on creating a great customer experience, even at their busiest moments.

T

he run-up to Christmas is traditionally one of the busiest times of the year for salon owners. It’s a time where every resource should be focused on delivering a great experience to the influx of clients wanting to look their best for the festive season.

Yet in truth, it’s also a time when even the most capable business owner can find themselves drowning under the pressure of having to juggle the demand of paying clients, with the everyday admin associated with running a business.

all without needing to hire additional reception staff something all salons want to avoid and manage better.

Keep the wheels of the business running smoothly this Christmas

Worldpay, helping businesses grow

In research conducted last year, Worldpay, the UK’s leading payments provider1, found small businesses typically spend around a fifth of their time on paperwork and admin. In a salon, where stylists are used to processing a large number of transactions each day, reconciling that information can result in late nights and early mornings cashing up.

My Business Hub takes care of payments, tipping, invoices and more so you can focus on your clients and your craft.

Aside from the requirements to keep up-to-date financial records, having access to good quality data provides visibility during busy periods and is absolutely vital when it comes to planning and forecasting. Yet when nearly one in five business owners are still running their business using a pen and paper2, it’s no wonder many independent businesses are struggling to call up an accurate record of profit and loss.

The business of beauty Salon owners need business tools designed to help them manage all of their transactions in one place – in an easyto-understand layout. These tools should provide instant access to sales trends and allow businesses to keep on top of their cash flow, customer enquiries and stock.

Addressing this challenge, My Business Hub - an intuitive, all-in-one tablet-based point-of-sale solution - brings to salon owners the ability to reduce the daily admin burden by automating the reconciliation of cash and card payments.

Here, there, or anywhere Queuing is one of the biggest turn-offs for shoppers with nearly three quarters saying they will abandon a purchase if they have to wait more than five minutes3. Utilising technology that takes sales away from the till and to the stylist’s chair is a great way to reduce congestion around reception and offer a personalised service to clients,

Improve customer experience With My Business Hub, if reception gets busy, stylists can take payment at the styling chair with a tablet, maximising the opportunity to talk to busy clients about additional products and services before they rush off.

With My Business Hub, salon owners can get back to what they really love doing in their salon: • Operated with a detachable Android tablet, My Business Hub gives stylists the freedom to take payments anywhere in the salon. This flexibility means they can spend more time with clients, enhancing the overall customer experience, while also helping to reduce queues at busy times.

• Accepts all forms of major debit and credit cards, contactless, mobile payments and cash.

• The detachable tablet also allows stylists to: ooUse the device for other functions, whether that be ordering stock online or checking emails and responding to customer enquiries. ooView and compare sales trends, access transaction history, keep on top of cash flow, manage reconciliation quicker and view invoices on a simple and easy to use platform. ooCut down on time spent on administration and increase the opportunity to connect more deeply with clients.

My Business Hub is also fully integrated with My Business Dashboard, Worldpay’s online insights tool. Hub users will be able to see both cash and card transactions in their My Business Dashboard account, saving them time, while also enabling them to track performance, view sales trends and gain valuable insights about their business.

Want to know more?

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When purchasing My Business Hub, you will receive all the support you need when it comes to installing, getting set up for taking payments, and becoming PCI DSS compliant.

We’re trusted by over 300,000 small UK businesses, no joining fee, 24/7 UK customer support4 and offer a range of great additional benefits for our customers. If you’re looking to accept card payments face to face or online, via mail or telephone, and on the move with flexible pricing plans to suit your business needs. Find out more today at: www.worldpay.com. Follow our news on @Worldpay 1.

2.

3.

4.

Nilson Report, June 2016 Opinion Matters Research Report on behalf of Worldpay in June 2015.

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24

Protecting your business: ransomware

HELD TO RANSOM SALONS, LIKE ALL OF US, ARE BECOMING INCREASINGLY RELIANT ON COMPUTERS. SO WHEN YOU SWITCH ON ONE MORNING TO FIND YOU’VE BEEN LOCKED OUT AND ARE BEING ASKED TO PAY A RANSOM, THE RESULTS CAN BE DEVASTATING. t was Monday morning, and my general manager opened up the computer to find a message on the screen.

All our information had been encrypted. And if we wanted it back we had to email a Russian address.”

“

I

Kenneth Main recalls the moment back in October last year when his salon world was turned upside down – and you can still hear the pain in his voice.

His salon, Ellen Conlin in Glasgow, had fallen victim to “ransomware”, a sophisticated form of computer hacking that, as its name suggests, holds a victim to ransom by denying them access to their computer until they pay up.

Ken’s experience was recently featured on The BBC’s The One Show and is a reminder to salons of how important it is to remain vigilant when it comes to protecting themselves from cyber attack.

But, as Ken explains, his story is all the more of a warning to salons precisely because he had always been vigilant, for example never opening suspicious emails or clicking on links unless he was 100% sure.

“What happened, we think, is one of

our suppliers, a sanitaryware supplier, had been hacked about 10 days’ previously and one of its invoices to us had a virus attached to it. You wouldn’t, of course, open an attachment from an email you didn’t recognise, but I regularly had electronic invoices from them. I’ve now made sure for the past six months that suppliers only send us paper invoices,” he says.

“Of course, panic set in because we could not access anything on the computer. A Trojan virus had been unleashed three minutes (at 2.50am) before our regular back-up to the Cloud.

The back-up was encrypted too, so we couldn’t simply reinstall everything,” Ken remembers.

ENCRYPTED FILES “We contacted our software provider, SalonGenius, who we had been with for 10 years. The hacker wanted $350 to give us the key to the encrypted files. So we said we’d better pay it. SalonGenius said it would take them about three days to debug the system and even then we still had to reinstall the files,” says Ken. “We had no clients coming in because we could not send them their usual text message reminders. So we had three days where we were essentially out of action as a salon.

WHAT IS RANSOMWARE? Ransomware is a form of computer “malware” – often a virus or a malicious computer program such as a “Trojan” – that is installed covertly on a victim’s computer.

Once in, it attacks the computer hard-drive, often by encrypting all the data on it so it can’t be accessed or simply by locking down the whole computer.

It then displays a message demanding the user pay a ransom to reverse the damage and restore the

salonfocus | Nov/Dec 2016

“SalonGenius then received a second email raising the ransom to €1,000, which had to be paid in ‘Bitcoins’. SalonGenius was able to pay it for us through a third party.

But when we got the key, about 80% of the information was still corrupted and unusable. So we had to reinstall the whole system and start to create a new database.

“The one positive thing was there had been no security breach around our client data, although the information was still corrupted. That, at least, was something to be thankful about. But one year on we’re still not back to normal; we’re still updating and rebuilding the database.

“We had 15 years’ worth of business on there and lost everything – contracts, pictures, job specifications and so on. You still go in looking for a file and find it’s not there.

“It’s cost us probably £20,000 in lost income and has just been a very difficult time. We now use irregular back-ups, as that’s safer than backing up at the same time each day, and change the passwords regularly. I also have things backed up to a portable pen drive,” Ken advises.

Salons should also be aware that, at the moment, this is not an area covered by the Salonsure insurance policy from the NHF’s preferred broker Coversure Insurance Services.

However, product development manager Kevin Stratton told salonfocus there are a number of standalone insurance policies on the market that salons can buy to cover themselves against this eventuality.

victim’s files or data although, as was the case with Ken, even if the ransom is paid there’s no guarantee the device will be restored to normal.

While initially something most associated with hackers in Russia, ransomware attacks and scams are now a global phenomenon.

Earlier this year, the security firm Trend Micro reported it had found more ransomware-related infections just in the month of February than in the whole first six months of last year.

Protecting your business: ransomware

25

HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF

Salon software provider SalonGenius, which supported Ken in overcoming his attack, recommends salons stay constantly vigilant to the threat of ransomware and, in particular, make sure you: • Know your back-up procedure and always back data up to a pen (or portable) drive as a minimum measure to protect their data • Stay wary of suspicious social media posts • Do not click on links in emails or social media without confirming that they were sent intentionally, no matter who the sender • Do not download mobile apps outside official mobile stores • Use antivirus and antimalware software, and keep it updated • Keep all applications and operating systems up to date

Nov/Dec 2016 | salonfocus

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Protecting your business: bad reviews

STAR

ATTRACTION

A BAD ONLINE REVIEW, ESPECIALLY ONE YOU FEEL IS UNFAIR, CAN BE HUGELY DAMAGING TO YOUR BUSINESS. SO HOW SHOULD YOU MANAGE WHAT CAN BE A TRICKY SITUATION? SARAH HOLLAND EXPLAINS.

SARAH HOLLAND IS HEAD OF INFORMATION SECURITY AT ONLINE REPUTATION FIRM RISKEYE. Sarah Holland

all like to think we’re doing a good W ejob.

This is especially the case when

you’re running your own business and your livelihood – and the livelihood of your valued team – depends on your brand and local reputation.

That’s why online reviews can be so powerful, both for good and for ill. If someone is looking at your business online, perhaps to decide whether to make an appointment, good client reviews could be an important deciding factor.

But, equally, bad reviews could be a turn off and mean they look elsewhere. So, if a client has posted a bad review, what can you do? How can you deal with it? And what are your options if you feel it’s plain wrong, false or malicious?

salonfocus | Nov/Dec 2016

Just as if something has been written about you in the press or in print, if an online review is defamatory or libellous you can take legal action under the 2013 Defamation Act to get it removed as well as to seek damages and an apology.

Under this law both the author of the review and the website that has published it can potentially be held liable.

However, the law is complex in this area and before rushing in and taking any action yourself, which might only inflame things, it makes sense to take legal advice.

The NHF’s Legal Lifeline (01234 831965) can help with this, or you could of course speak to a company like RiskEye. Even more importantly, even if you feel the review is damaging or libellous, legal action should be your last resort. Generally speaking, the following five actions will resolve most contentious online reviews.

Protecting your business: bad reviews

1

Make contact with the complainer or reviewer.

The quickest way to make a bad review go away is for the reviewer to take it down. And the best way to do that is to bring that person “onside”; to make them feel positive about the salon.

So, contact them; treat it like you would any complaint from a customer. You should normally be able to personal message them through the review site. It is best to do this offline rather than in public on the review forum.

It is important to keep the conversation neutral rather than making accusations, however angry you may feel about it. So you could phrase it something like “sorry to hear about your experience, we would really like to rectify this for you, can you contact me?”.

If, once contact has been made, nothing is still forthcoming, you can then look to proceed legally.

2

Get them back into the salon.If you can get your reviewer back into the salon and wow them with how you put things right – whether that’s rectifying what’s gone wrong in their eyes or offering them their money back – that’s going to help. Probably.

I say “probably” because it is a sad fact of life that people sometimes do post negative reviews to see what they can get in return. So you will need to make a judgement call as to whether this is a genuine complaint or someone “trying it on”.

Even if it is, you’ll need to judge whether, though irritating, it’s still worth making the effort of offering something as an incentive to get the review removed.

3

Actively encourage your clients to engage with review sites. This may sound counterintuitive: why would you want to be putting more reviews out there? But, as highlighted earlier, most potential clients will look at a range of reviews to get the whole picture.

If a salon is mostly getting good reviews and ratings – and they appear to be written by “real” clients (and see point four opposite) – then that’s going to be powerful,

27

even if there are one or two less positive reviews out there. If you can generate a load of positive review “traffic”, that’s going to send out a strong message about your salon and will help to blunt the impact of any negative reviews.

Don’t forget to ask people, if they do review you, to rate the salon too. The algorithms that work behind most review sites are more likely to identify and highlight reviews that have given the business a star rating or mark out of 10 (or however the site does it) and therefore these will normally appear higher on the page search.

4

Be wary of the “friends and family” approach. Of course encourage genuine clients and friends who’ve used the salon to post (hopefully positive) reviews. But do be careful these don’t tip into becoming too obviously “placed” or “corporate”.

The best reviews tend to say something valuable and informative about the salon experience rather than totally gushing. Even a mild “I’d have liked it if…” criticism can be helpful in this context, as it will make the review come across as more genuine.

Finally, definitely, definitely do not fall into the trap of paying people to write positive reviews, unless you make it very clear on the site that this is paid content.

This is something the Competition and Markets Authority is increasingly cracking down on (and see the panel below for more on this).

5

Don’t sit and stew about it. The online review world moves fast and today’s negative review can, on a busy site, quickly be superseded. But if you feel a review is genuinely damaging or defamatory, you do need to get on and act about it.

This is because you only have a limited “window” in which to come forward to ask for a review to be removed.

If an article is defamatory, the deadline is a year, although if it is deemed to be highly defamatory, this can in specific circumstances be extended to two years. So don’t hang around.

CONSUMER INVESTIGATION The government’s Competition and Markets Authority estimates half of UK adults (54%) use online reviews, that 6% use blogs or vlogs before making a purchase.

The authority has also become more active in cracking down on firms it believes are being misleading in how they use online reviews.

To that end, the authority has been investigating the use of online reviews and endorsements to ensure they're being used in line with consumer protection law.

For example, in August it highlighted a marketing company that used social media personalities to promote films, games and takeaway and dating apps on its social media sites, without readers being informed the content was paid-for advertising.

This has included looking at practices such as fake reviews being posted, negative reviews not being published or businesses paying for endorsements in blogs and other online articles without this being made clear to consumers.

At the same time, it highlighted the case of a knitwear retailer that, it argued, had suppressed customer reviews and “cherrypicked” more favourable ones.

Nov/Dec 2016 | salonfocus

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Allergy alert testing

COLOUR CONSCIOUS AN NHF MEMBER’S INSISTENCE ON A CLIENT HAVING AN ALLERGY ALERT TEST PREVENTED A TRAGEDY, AND ALMOST CERTAINLY SAVED HER LIFE.

ou can always rely on The Sun to come up with a great pun, and its headline on 4 September was no exception: “Hair to dye for”. However, the subject of its story was certainly no laughing matter for hair salons.

Y

The article told the story of Merthyr Tydfil teenager Sophie Warren who, after a home-hair bleach had gone wrong, went to her local salon, Hairport, to get things sorted out.

The salon, a long-standing NHF member managed by Paul Reardon together with his wife Donna and daughter Niamh, insisted Sophie have an allergy alert test before going ahead and correcting the colour.

It was a good job they did. Within an hour, Sophie’s ear where the test had been applied had started to redden and swell.

After two days her she’d developed a weeping sore and so returned to the salon.

Realising this could be a serious reaction, Paul and Donna advised her to go immediately to her local A&E. On examining her, doctors at the hospital told her she’d had a severe reaction to chemicals in the dye and, if she had had the colour applied to her entire scalp, she could easily have died.

Sophie’s reaction to the sensitivity test was unexpected and frightening for her, and will now mean she is allergic to the chemical PPD in hair colour, and will have to avoid all permanent and semi-permanent hair dyes that contain this chemical.

But had Hairport not used the test, or had Sophie decided to redo the colour herself, the outcome could have been tragic.

As Paul told salonfocus: “We’re very strict on patch testing before we colour and we always follow the manufacturer’s instructions.

Thank goodness we did!”

salonfocus | Nov/Dec 2016

TRAINING EVENT The NHF’s support in this has been important in this too, not least the fact the couple back in 2012 attended an NHF event run by Trichocare Education that highlighted the importance of regular allergy alert testing and the dangers to clients of allergic reactions.

The NHF also has its Allergy Alert Consultation and Colour Record Card, which allows salons to monitor when a client last had an allergy alert test and whether a repeat test is required.

As Nick Plunkett of Trichocare Education adds: “Many hairdressers will know only too well it can be a problem persuading clients to have a test every time they have a colour, especially if they’ve been colouring their hair regularly for a long time.

“It’s difficult to convince clients that sensitivity to colour can develop out of the blue, and many clients don’t realise that a home-applied hair colour or henna tattoos that they have had between salon visits can be a trigger. The lesson from Hairport is that testing every time is the safest policy.”

FIND OUT MORE The Allergy Alert Consultation and Colour Record Card is available in packs of 100 free of charge (plus £4.50 P&P), and includes a copy of the NHF Guide to Allergy Alert Testing and Colour Products.

You can order the cards through the online shop at nhf.info or call 01234 831965.

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Incredibles photoshoot

STYLE COUNSEL

FINALISTS FROM THIS YEAR’S NHF ‘INCREDIBLES’ COMPETITION HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE PART IN A PHOTOSHOOT IN LONDON IN AUGUST. HERE’S WHAT THEY CREATED.

p-and-coming talent was well and truly on display when the NHF Incredibles

U art team gathered in August at the Goldwell Academy on London’s Shaftesbury Avenue.

The Incredibles competition is all about inspiring stylists to develop their creative skills and talent to help them reach the top of their profession.

It has three categories: Newcomer, which celebrates first-year students, Future Generation, which recognises second- and third- year apprentices, and finally the art team, which is for qualified stylists.

With Lauren Horner, of Peter Prosser Hairdressing in Hereford, winning Newcomer of the Year and Yasmin Bush, of E’lan Hair Design in Rothey, winning the Future Generation category in July, in August it was the turn of the art team to shine.

The art team photoshoot winners were invited to the academy to take part in a one-day shoot with mentor and industry expert Jerome Hillion and photographer James Rutland. And the results, as you can see, were most definitely creative and inspiring.

GEORGIA

KELLY

MARTINE

THE INCREDIBLES 2016 ART TEAM FINALISTS:

VAIDA

ASHLEY

Elisha Didymus, Simone Thomas, Bournemouth Melissa Hood, Portobello Salon, Torbay Kelly Martin and Georgia Bonner, Spirit Hair Company (Wallingford, High Wycombe and Farnham) Martine Rodda, DeModa Organic Hair & Beauty (Redruth Ltd), Cornwall Amelia Stockley, Pimms Hair & Beauty, Aldershot Vaida Urbaite, hair and colour expert, London Ashley Wallace, Copperfields Hairdressing & Beauty, Perth

MELISSA

ELISHA

CREDITS Make-up artist – Alex Taylor Stylist – Bernard Connolly Mentor – Jerome Hillion Photographer – James Rutland Venue - KMS California/ Goldwell Academy, London

AMELIA

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The Hairdressers’ Charity

GIFT WRAPPED

HABB HAS RELAUNCHED AS THE HAIRDRESSERS’ CHARITY, MEANING YOUR DONATIONS CAN NOW STRETCH THAT LITTLE BIT FURTHER. he work of the hairdressers’ charity Hair and Beauty Benevolent (HABB) in supporting those within the industry who have fallen on hard times has been well-recognised by salons for many years.

in one form or another since 1853 but this new change sees us as a registered charity for the first time ever.

“As a registered charity, donations can be subsidised with Gift Aid and corporate companies can benefit from tax allowances.

This means even more money for hairdressers in need.”

That fantastic work will continue – but now under a new name, and as a registered charity.

This is because HABB has relaunched as The Hairdressers’ Charity, with the advantage that it is now a registered charity and therefore donations can for the first time be subsidised by Gift Aid (see panel).

As The Hairdressers’ Charity president David Drew explains: “This is big news for the industry and charity – we’ve been around

NHF ROLE NHF chief executive Hilary Hall is also to take a leading role with the new charity, as vice president. “HABB used to receive more than 300 applications a year for help, and by becoming a registered charity we can make every penny we receive go that much further in helping those in need,” she says.

Anyone wishing to find out more should go to thehairdresserscharity.org

T

HOW GIFT AID WORKS By donating using Gift Aid, it means a charity can reclaim the tax made on any donation made by a UK taxpayer.

This means, in effect, for a basic rate taxpayer, the charity can gain an extra 25p for every £1 donated, at no extra cost.

To donate via Gift Aid, you simply make a declaration at the time of donating, usually by ticking a box on the form. The charity can then claim Gift Aid on it.

Higher rate taxpayers can reclaim the difference between the rate of tax they pay and the basic rate of tax that has been gift aided.

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The NHF Business Academy

SUCCESS STORY THE NHF IS LAUNCHING A NEW NHF BUSINESS ACADEMY TO HELP YOUR BUSINESS BE EVEN MORE SUCCESSFUL. HERE’S HOW IT WILL WORK. t can be lonely at the top. As a hair or beauty salon or barber shop owner, making and implementing business decisions – making that judgement call – will always come back to you.

I

One of the challenges of being a successful business owner, especially early on, is that it requires very different skills and knowledge to being a successful stylist, barber or beauty therapist.

Whether it’s understanding the finances, keeping on top of the marketing or navigating the ins and outs of managing your team, running your own business can be a steep learning curve with a lot at stake at every move.

Often there can be a feeling you’re doing all this without a roadmap to guide you or a safety net to catch you if you trip up.

No longer. The NHF has launched a new service, The NHF Business Academy, with a very simple aim: to help salon owners – hair, beauty and barber shop – to be even more successful.

Drawing on the expertise of a team of hugely experienced trainers and coaches (see panel) all of whom have “been there, done that, got the T-shirt” in terms of making their name within the industry, the academy is a specialised business advice and mentoring service.

So, what is The NHF Business Academy offering? There are three different kinds of support: 1. NHF business training for hair salons, beauty salons and barber shops, available to both member and nonmember salons.

2. A free business support helpline offering a 15-minute telephone consultation with a coach, available exclusively to NHF members.

3. In-house coaching, available to both NHF and non-NHF salons, but with guaranteed best rates for NHF members.

BUSINESS ACADEMY TRAINING The academy’s business training will work at two levels: access to the NHF’s existing programme of business and training events, but then also the opportunity to bring that training directly into your salon.

Check out our Events and nhf.info/events for full details of this autumn’s events around the country. The 2017 programme will be announced in the January/February edition of salonfocus.

Events cost £130 for an “early bird” member rate, rising to £170 for a standard member rate and £250 for non-members.

However, through the academy, it will now be possible to bring these training courses into your salon at a cost of

salonfocus | Nov/Dec 2016

£1,000 plus VAT, plus travel expenses. Please note, you will also be responsible for providing a suitable training environment for the courses and refreshments for the day.

BUSINESS ACADEMY SUPPORT HELPLINE The NHF has for many years offered the Legal Lifeline: our popular, free 24/7 employment law/HR helpline, as well as a free commercial advice service covering questions such as payroll, tax, VAT, health and safety and landlord/tenant issues.

Through the academy, this is now going to be supplemented by a new business support helpline where you can get one-toone advice from academy experts.

This new service will only be available to NHF members. It will be limited to one free 15-minute consultation call per membership per year, and will be able to be accessed through the NHF membership or online.

BUSINESS ACADEMY IN-HOUSE COACHING If you’ve been on one of the NHF’s training days, you’ll have probably came away with loads of ideas. But, once you’re back in the day-to-day of the salon, it can be hard to make them actually happen.

That’s where the academy’s in-house coaching service can make a difference. This service will allow you to call in one of the academy’s coaches to help you cut through the confusion and work out what’s going to work best for you and your team.

The package for this includes: • An initial professional review and half-day visit to your salon or barber shop, covering areas such as marketing, the client journey, wages and pricing, and where your “points of pain” are • A follow-up report on the findings and the development of an action plan • Three months of ongoing telephone or email support, up to an hour per month • A follow-up half day visit to review progress and agree further action The cost of this service is as follows: £550 plus VAT for the half-day initial visit (plus travel expenses and accommodation if needed); £225 plus VAT for three months telephone and email support; a further £550 plus VAT plus expenses for the follow-up visit.

The NHF Business Academy

HOW TO CONTACT THE ACADEMY To book an academy package, contact the NHF membership team on 01234 831965 or check out nhf.info/memberbenefits/business-academy for more details. The NHF is also keen to bring more coaches on to the team and if you are interested, email enquiries@nhf.info

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MEET YOUR NEW NHF COACHES Chris Amos (top) and Richard Wallace, Winning Ways, Bromsgrove Both successful salon owners, Chris and Richard have been delivering many of the NHF’s popular business events, including ‘How to make your salon more profitable’ and ‘How to deliver a consistently great client experience’.

Penny Etheridge, Radiant Hair Consultancy, London With more than 30 years in the industry, Penny is a highly qualified business coach, lecturer and presenter.

She regularly delivers NHF business events, including ‘How to get your team motivated to boost your takings’ and ‘How to boost a flagging column, make more money and create happier clients’.

Ryan Fox, Umbrella Training & Consultancy, London Ryan is a hair and beauty salon consultant with a 15-year track record in the industry. He delivers NHF events including, ‘Salon marketing – how to attract new clients and keep regulars coming back for more’ and ‘Salon start up – what you need to make it happen’.

Ken West, director of 365hair. com, Buckinghamshire 365hair.com has been helping salon owners to run successful and profitable salons since 1982. As an exsalon owner and hairdresser with more than 30 years’ experience, Ken has worked with salons of all sizes, from single owners to some of the largest groups.

Nov/Dec 2016 | salonfocus

36

The NHF Business Academy

David Drew, Impact Business Consultancy, Sussex A master craftsman and stateregistered senior hairdresser, David is a fully accredited and qualified business coach and has spent more than four decades in the industry. He was chairman of the Fellowship for British Hairdressing from April 2012 to April 2014.

Simon Harris, Mysalonmanager, Essex With more than 40 years in the industry, Simon has owned and run a group of 16 salons with more than 250 staff before last year venturing into full-time coaching and consultancy.

Nikki Jukes, Aim Hi Coaching, Windsor Nikki is a business coach and brand consultant with a career that spans nearly 30 years. Nikki has held senior management positions with skincare brands such as ESPA International, Gatineau, Phytomer and Clarins. She founded Aim Hi Coaching in 2011.

Susan Routledge, Susan Routledge Consultancy, County Durham Susan has been involved in the beauty industry for more than 30 years and is the winner of more than 10 national business awards. Her blog, Beauty Entrepreneurs, has over 7,000 subscribers.

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38

BOOKINGS Anyone interested in attending events should contact the NHF team on 01234 831965 or events@nhf. info. Bookings can be made online at nhf.info/events

Events

ONE-DAY EVENTS HOW TO DO EFFECTIVE SALON MARKETING TO ATTRACT NEW CLIENTS AND KEEP REGULARS COMING BACK 07 November - York HOW TO BOOST A FLAGGING COLUMN, MAKE MORE MONEY AND CREATE HAPPIER CLIENTS 21 November - Plymouth

20 November - East Midlands trip to Wella Studios, Manchester

EVENING EVENTS BARBER WORKSHOP 07 November - Liverpool 14 November - Milton Keynes DOS AND DON’TS OF CHAIR RENTING 14 November - London ARE YOU PREPARED FOR PENSIONS AUTO-ENROLMENT? 21 November - Bedford INSIGHT INTO AFRO 07 November - Birmingham GETTING THE BEST FROM YOUR SCISSORS 07 November - Bristol

SHORT WORKSHOPS/ DEMOS FOCUS ON HAIR LOSS 14 November - Guildford

NATIONAL AND REGIONAL COMPETITIONS 06 November - Welsh Awards, Cardiff 13 November - Britain’s Best, British Motor Museum, Gaydon, Warwickshire

salonfocus | Nov/Dec 2016

LAST CALL FOR BRITAIN’S BEST!

SALONS HAVE JUST DAYS LEFT TO ENTER.

f you haven’t done it already, you need to get 13 November into your diary – and fast.

I

That, of course, is the date for this year’s Britain’s Best national competition at the British Motor Museum in Gaydon, Warwickshire.

Teams can enter right up to the day.

With 11 categories to choose from, there is something for everyone, whatever your level or experience.

Britain’s Best is now firmly established as one of the talking points of the hairdressing calendar, and being a category winner or becoming Ladies or Men’s Champion can be a real boost for your salon and your team, as well as great publicity locally.

Don’t forget, too, spectators are more than welcome to come along on the day to cheer on their favourite salon teams. Entry on the door for spectators is just £10.

So, don’t delay, get online at britainsbest.me where you can find out full details on each category and how to enter.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Where: The British Motor Museum, Gaydon, Warwickshire When: 13 November, 2016 Doors open: 9am. But make sure your model is ready to take to the floor one hour before your competition start.

With thanks to this year’s sponsors: TrichoCare Education, Aston & Fincher, Denman, KPMG Small Business Accounting, and Coversure Insurance Services.

'STEP UP' IN 2017 Entries are now open for the 2017 Christofer Mann Step Up & Shine Scholarship, which offers an up-andcoming stylist training, mentoring and tuition worth £2,500.

Run by the NHF and the Fellowship for British Hairdressing, the scholarship is awarded to one hairdresser every year, and there is no restriction on level, experience, age or geographic location.

The lucky winner will then be mentored throughout the year by industry legend

Debbie G as well as meet and learn from some of the industry’s leading names.

To enter, all you have to do is record a 60-second video to Instagram with the hashtag #stepupandshine outlining why you think you’d be the perfect candidate to win this scholarship.

A shortlist of six applicants will be selected and then during February and March the judges will visit your salon to meet you and observe you at work.

The winner will be announced at the fellowship’s prestigious President’s Night in April.

The closing date from entries will be Friday 3 February and more information can be found at nhf.info/events under “Competitions”.

ALEX...

HELPING HAIRDRESSERS IN NEED DONATE, FUNDRAISE & SUPPORT YOUR INDUSTRY CHARITY Born from

#HairdressersHelpingHairdressers www.thehairdresserscharity.org TheHairdressersCharity

TheHairCharity

TheHairdressersCharity

Company No: 11085412 | Registered Charity in England & Wales No: 1166298

...was disowned by his parents when he told them he was gay.

Finding himself in a homeless shelter, we were approached to provide support.

We assisted with a new hairdressing kit so that he could continue to do what he loves and rebuild his life.

FOR ALL COLOUR SERVICES

IN ALL STORES NOW!

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