12 September 2023

Your Voice Matters: The NHBF State of the Industry Quarterly Survey 

The NHBF is working on a major project looking at the VAT threshold and needs your valuable input to help shape this.

We ask you crucial questions about VAT registration, turnover and the hidden economy, in addition to the regular survey questions about business activity, prices, recruitment intentions, growth plans and your overall view of the sector.

You can access the survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/QR7YGWX 

Your participation will give us the latest insights that we need to continue to fight your corner and to help you protect your business.

The Minister responsible for the Personal Care sector, Kevin Hollinrake said recently that the survey is a ‘valuable’ piece of research for the Government.

The deadline for responses is Friday 22 September at 5pm.

The survey should take around 7 minutes. Your responses are strictly confidential.

 

NHBF releases first-ever report on hair & beauty sector ethnic mix

The National Hair & Beauty Federation (NHBF) has released its latest report, Analysis of the Trends Within the Hair & Beauty Industry by Ethnicity Across the UK – the first of its kind to be undertaken in the industry. The report marks a significant milestone in the NHBF’s commitment to develop a comprehensive evidence base and better

understand the trends within the industry.

The report, compiled by the Local Data Company, reports the following key findings:

  1. Growth Trends: The hair & beauty sector has experienced growth in locations with a larger proportion of Black, Black British, Caribbean, or African communities. However, the overall market share across Great Britain has declined slightly over the past five years.
  2. Asian Ethnic Group: Hair & beauty locations in Asian or Asian British postcode sectors have seen growth over the past five years. Nevertheless, their overall market share has reduced during the same period.
  3. All ethnic groups have experienced a slowdown in growth in 2022, as market saturation and increased competition for local spending have become more prominent factors.
  4. Regional Variations: The report highlights varying growth rates and challenges across different regions, with some areas showing greater resilience since the pandemic. (For example, Black, Black British, Caribbean and African in the East Midlands have been the most resilient since the pandemic whilst 9 out of 10 of the fastest declining postcodes are in Greater London).
  5. Survival Rates: Hair & beauty salons in White ethnic areas have shown and higher probability of surviving past their third anniversary, while Black, Black British, Caribbean and African outlets face lower survival rates, emphasising the need for targeted support for these small businesses.

Read the full report here.

 

Make Saving Energy Your Business

Improving your energy efficiency could increase the profitability of your business by saving money, protecting against potential future energy price increases and even enhancing productivity. The Government has launched a campaign for businesses, sharing actions that can help your business to be more energy efficient.

Here are five low-cost actions that your business could take to reduce your energy costs.

  • Review your business’s energy use - Undertake an assessment of your energy usage to understand when and where energy expenditure is highest and where savings could be made.
  • Install a smart meter - Installing a smart meter is a simple way of getting real-time data on your business usage and puts an end to estimated bills. Smart meters are generally installed at no additional cost. If you rent your business premises, you may wish to talk to your landlord about having one installed.
  • Review your tariff - Make sure you’re on the best energy tariff for your business. Get in touch with your energy supplier to understand what tariffs they provide and compare what they offer with other providers before agreeing on a contract.
  • Upgrade your lightbulbs - LED bulbs use very little energy and are long-lasting compared to older halogen and tungsten lighting. Upgrade your lighting to LED for a significant saving in energy use and a rapid return on investment.
  • Time your heating - Take note of when staff and customers are in your business premises, and time your heating and air conditioning around this. Consider switching off office heating at weekends and bank holidays and adjust as the clocks change for Daylight Saving Time.

Find government help to improve your energy efficiency at www.gov.uk/business-energy-saving 

 

Salaried Hours Work and the National Minimum Wage Webinar

HMRC’s National Minimum Wage (NMW) team are offering a live webinar about Salaried Hours Work and the National Minimum Wage, for the first time.

This webinar will cover the key points around salaried hours, the changes that were brought about by the amendments to the legislation in April 2020 as well as tackling some long-standing myths about the topic.

The Webinar will look in detail at:

  • The concept of Salaried Hours work covering the criteria that must be met for a worker to be performing salaried hours work for minimum wage purposes
  • The importance of record keeping
  • The calculation of the NMW for Salaried Hours workers
  • How to put things right if mistakes have been made

Register for the Webinar here.

 

 

Low Emission Zone Retrofit Fund

Scottish micro businesses and sole traders that operate non-compliant vehicles in a planned low emission zone (LEZ) may be eligible for funding to install a solution approved by the Clean Vehicle Retrofit Accreditation Scheme (CVRAS). These solutions will prolong the vehicle's life and improve its emission standards, allowing it to enter a LEZ. The fund will help applicants avoid LEZ penalties and improve local air quality.

Find out more.

 

 

Campaigning for you – energy suppliers

NHBF submitted a response last week to the Ofgem, the energy regulator’s consultation on the non-domestic market review (that closed on Wednesday 6 September). The response used evidence provided by you from the State of the Industry survey from July.

Our response made clear that sector businesses are still experiencing a range of issues including:

  • Rising prices even though wholesale/retail prices may be falling.
  • High-security deposits are still a problem for around 10% of sector businesses, the same proportion as it was six months ago and around 7% of businesses are still being refused contracts on grounds relating to the business e.g. credit rating. 
  • Businesses continue to experience problems with poor customer service.

We welcome the progress that has been made over recent months to hold energy suppliers to account. We are keen to support that further urgent action needs to be taken if we are to ensure that businesses can make their way through the winter as effectively as possible. 

We support many of the measures outlined in the report including steps towards more effective complaint handling and bill transparency, in addition to guidance and best practices on security deposits and encouraging suppliers to offer more flexibility around payment terms.