British Hair Consortium shapes landmark Small Business Strategy
Sector’s voice Is heard at the highest level thanks to the BHC.
The British Hair Consortium (BHC) has once again proven itself to be the authoritative voice of the hair, barbering and beauty industry, playing a pivotal role in one of the most significant policy reviews affecting small businesses across the UK.
The Business & Trade Committee’s Small Business Strategy has now been published – a landmark report to which the British Hair Consortium made a substantial and influential contribution. Notably, 20% of all respondents to the Select Committee inquiry were hairdressers, barbers and beauty professionals, an extraordinary figure that underlines both the scale of the sector and the power of collective action when the industry speaks with one voice.
“This is the culmination of years of hard work to unify our sector and provide Government with one consistent, credible source of data. It is heartening to see the Committee truly grasp the scale and urgency of the issues our industry faces. We now call on the Government to act decisively and save high street salons before it is too late,”
– Toby Dicker, BHC.
The Committee’s Recommendations Included:
- Reform the VAT system to remove growth-discouraging cliff edges, including reviewing the VAT registration threshold and reducing complexity that penalises expanding firms, particularly in labour-intensive sectors.
- Replace business rates with a fairer system that reflects a firm’s ability to pay, reduces the burden on bricks-and-mortar businesses, and supports the vitality of high streets.
- Simplify and improve access to the skills system for SMEs, ensuring training and apprenticeship provision is designed around the needs of smaller employers and supports productivity growth.
- Introduce targeted energy support for SMEs, including fairer pricing, stronger protections for smaller users, and greater transparency in the energy market.
- Provide clear national leadership on business crime, strengthening policing, enforcement and trading standards capacity, and ensuring crime against businesses is treated as an economic priority. (The BHC called on the Government to mandate the Hairdressing Registration Act).
- Equip local authorities to regenerate high streets, including improving transparency of commercial property ownership, providing national expertise, and strengthening councils’ powers and resources.
- Create a coherent national framework for SME business support, replacing the current fragmented landscape with consistent, accessible support that firms can navigate easily.
- Improve SME data and cross-Whitehall coordination, including establishing a formal mechanism for SMEs to flag conflicting regulation and ensuring policy-making is informed by accurate, up-to-date evidence.
The report also reinforces the urgent need to separate retail and service data, ensuring Government has an accurate picture of the personal care sector so that support is properly targeted. Crucially, it highlights the growing problem of illegal operations and organised criminal gangs taking over high‑street premises, echoing the British Hair Consortium’s long‑standing call for a mandatory register of hair professionals to protect consumers, legitimate businesses and the reputation of the industry.
The British Hair Consortium has done the work, united the sector and delivered the data. The responsibility now lies with Government to act — to protect jobs, safeguard apprenticeships, restore fairness and secure the future of Britain’s high streets before irreversible damage is done.
For more info please visit www.bhc.org.uk.
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