NHBF Business Update –Tuesday 12 March 2024

NHBF Board Member Elections

Voting is still open in the National Hair & Beauty Federation 2024 Board Member Elections, we encourage you to exercise your ability to vote.

All members will be contacted directly with further instructions how to cast their vote and will be issued with a Unique Voter Code.  Look out for the email or letter giving details how to vote and where to find more details about the candidates.  It’s your vote, so make sure you use it!

Online voting for the Elections will close on Monday 18 March 2024 at 9.00am.

Click here to vote.

What does the Spring Budget mean for the hair and beauty sector?

On March 6th, 2024, the Chancellor announced the Spring Budget, which included an increase in the VAT registration threshold from £85,000 to £90,000 starting from April 1st. This change will exempt around 28,000 small businesses from paying VAT.

Read the full NHBF statement on the Spring Budget here.

New Employment documents for Members

When hiring a new employee, several crucial tasks need to be completed. To ensure that you don't miss out on any important steps, we have created a comprehensive new employee induction checklist. On the other hand, losing an existing staff member can be difficult, but conducting an exit interview is essential to ensure the smooth running of your business. We are pleased to offer both of these documents for download at no cost to our Members in our shop. Visit our shop to download here & here. 

Shattering the silence about menopause: 12-month progress report

On World Menopause Day, 18 October 2023, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) published the “No Time to Step Back” report.

This summarised the work of Helen Tomlinson in the first 6 months after her appointment and highlighted progress made by businesses during this time.

This 12-month report provides a further update and reflects on Helen’s first year as the Government’s Menopause Employment Champion, develops themes from the No Time to Step Back 6-month report, and shares the progress made against Helen’s Four Point Plan.

Shattering the Silence about Menopause: 12-Month Progress Report

Shattering the Silence about Menopause: 12-Month Progress Report (PDF)

Low Pay Commission UK Visits 2024

The Low Pay Commission (LPC) is an independent statutory Non-Departmental Public Body set up under the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 to advise the Government on the National Minimum Wage (NMW).

They are on the lookout for companies that might be interested in speaking to the commissioners about the impact of minimum wages on their business.  From 1 April 2024, the minimum wage will be increased to £11.44 for those over 21-year-olds which is nearly a 10% increase from last year.  There are also adjustments for other age groups as shown in the link here.

How will the latest announcement affect your business planning?  How would you respond to the rising NMW?  LPC is also interested in talking to companies that are trying to raise their productivity, to showcase their learning journeys in their communication platforms.  The oral evidence given by the companies will be collated along with the research statistics for LPC to make their yearly recommendations to the government about the minimum wage.

If you would like to speak to the LPC Commissioners and bring up issues pertinent to your sector, please refer to the table of visits below and contact Rosina Robson for the NHBF.

Visits Schedule

Campaigning for you – Meeting with the Small Business Minister

NHBF met with Kevin Hollinrake MP this week, the Minister for Enterprise, Markets and Small Business with responsibility for the Personal Care sector, along with other members of the Independent Retailers Confederation (IRC).

NHBF raised the reaction to the Spring Budget on 6 March, setting out that some sector businesses would benefit from raising the VAT threshold but also that there was more to do on future VAT reform. The Minister said that he was ‘pushing for a smoothing mechanism’ around the VAT threshold with HM Treasury. NHBF also raised, with rising wages in April, the dip in businesses taking on staff and apprentices and pointed to the need for further support to employers.