Anne Veck Discusses The Living Wage
This week’s news was about the shocking story that households cannot afford the basics on the minimum wage. Anne Veck Salons made a decision 4 years ago to embrace the Living Wage for their over 18 assistants. Here is what they had to say about it:
A Big Concern
“What interests me from a hairdressing view and it really concerns me is that if you are not paying emerging stylists enough to live on, your haircut is subsidised by the tax payer. It’s a bit circle about low pricing, and low self-esteem.
Earning A Living
“The big issue in hairdressing that feeds into the ‘group think’ about hairdressing as a career choice and the crisis we find ourselves in for attracting young people into the industry is that we simply don’t price our services high enough. This then means we can’t pay people a rate on which they can actually earn a living.
Our Pay Structure
“In the Oxford salon we need 3 apprentice level support workers, but we decided to shift the balance and the pay structure upwards and have 1 apprentice and 2 assistants – we choose to pay our assistants above the advised Living Wage for Oxfordshire which is £8.75 but the triumph is that it means we keep them and the investment we make in them stays in the business. The salon functions much better, plus we can concentrate on the one apprentice and give her a better quality apprenticeship because we have 2 assistants to do the jobs such as shampooing and cleaning, we’re not making a cleaner out of them we’re making a hairdresser! We’ve increased the amount of money we spend on the assistants and receptionists, but we can focus on the apprentices.
About The Living Wage
“Originally the Living Wage was invented by a charity called the Living Wage Foundation. It calculates the amount you need to earn to make a living, one for London and one out of London. The government then used this to apply to minimum wage over 25 wage. These assistants have been with us 2 years now and it costs us more but the day to day running of the salon means we don’t have to think about anything. It’s a level of professional service and increases the quality. If a client is paying £30 for a cut and blowdry, the employer cannot be paying the stylist the living wage. We believe our approach to paying at least a Living Wage which is £8.75 in Oxfordshire can make the difference and it certainly pays back the business on return in investment in levels of professionalism.” Anne Veck, co-owner of Anne Veck Salons, Oxford and Bicester.
To find about more about the brand and its services, visit Anne Veck Hair here.
