NHBF Careers At The Cutting Edge – One Year On

Last year the NHBF published its landmark Careers at the Cutting Edge: tackling the skills shortage in the hair & beauty sector report, an independent report written by Pragmatix Advisory Ltd for NHBF. It was based on a survey of 570 businesses and interviews with businesses and education providers.

The report outlined a skills crisis in the hair & beauty sector based on a series of interlinked factors across qualifications and training, recruitment and retention and financial pressures. The report was covered extensively by the hair & beauty trade press.

One year on from report, the NHBF is calling on the hair, beauty and barbering industries to further unite to continue the progress that has been made after the initial report was published.

The NHBF is pleased to announce that progress has been made in the following areas:  

QUALIFICATIONS & TRAINING

Better marketing of careers: The NHBF is working with the Department for Education (DfE) to support better careers advice for the sector. We are also developing a range of careers information via the Beauty Industry Group (BIG) group website.

Ongoing training and reskilling: Launch of the NHBF Skills Zone in partnership with Pivot Point, to enable our members to access flexible resources that give them the tools to develop their knowledge of the NHBF Code of Conduct, which outlines the minimum requirements for a business to be safe, legal and profitable.

Improve college courses: The NHBF continues to support the Education and Training Foundation (ETF), which has been commissioned by DfE to deliver a rich mix of live online and face-to-face workshops, e-learning resources, mentoring, networking, and industry collaboration to support the implementation of the hairdressing, barbering and beauty therapy T-Level. This provides practical help to everyone involved in the planning and delivery of T Levels.

RECRUITMENT & RETENTION

• Professionalised qualifications: We have agreed and promoted industrywide joint guidelines on education and skills through the Beauty Industry Group (BIG) Education & Skills Task & Finish Group.

• Submissions to Government and Parliament: We have called on the DfE to facilitate collaboration between central and local government to bring together young people and employers at a local level in order to promote the range of sector careers. We have done this directly to DfE and through our submission to the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Beauty, Aesthetics and Wellbeing inquiry into the value of complementary therapies. The NHBF has also supported the development of the wellbeing and holistic therapist apprenticeship standard at level 3 and is looking at the development of level 4 and 5 standards.

• Championing job ready qualifications: Through a blog published on our website and speaking at numerous sector events, exhibitions and shows including Pro Beauty

SUPPORTING BUSINESSES WITH FINANCIAL PRESSURES

• Increase funding provision: The NHBF supported the Hair Professional Apprenticeship Steering group to develop two new standards and secured a significant uplift to apprenticeship funding band of £4,000 for the Hairdressing Professional standard from £7,000 to £11,000 and £2,000 for the Barbering Professional standard. This means that education providers are able to deliver up to date, fully funded apprenticeships providing a boost to sector recruitment, skills and training.

• Business rates discount: The NHBF helped to secure the 75% discount for the retail sector, transitional relief and a freeze in the multiplier in England and Wales with support through the Small Business Bonus in Scotland.

• Energy bills support: Businesses have also had support through the Energy Bill Relief Scheme and its successor the Energy Bill Discount Scheme from April 2023. The NHBF is lobbying for further support from Government and Ofgem targeted at businesses locked into high contracts, through ‘blend and extend’ options.

• Evidence to Government and Parliament: The NHBF has submitted comprehensive evidence to the Low Pay Commission about wage rates, making the case for restraint in future rises to the National Minimum Wage/National Living Wage, submissions to the UK Parliament about labour shortages, and to the Migration Advisory Committee about skills shortages and calling for it to be easier to bring in experienced staff from overseas.

• Crackdown on tax avoiding businesses: Working in collaboration with HMRC around a sector communications and enforcement campaign around tax evasion and disguised employment for Q1 2024.

• Address the VAT disparity:  The NHBF called for fairer taxation and VAT in the Spring Budget submission to the Chancellor and in multiple other submissions to Government and Parliament. They are working further on an evidence base to address this disincentive to growth.

Richard Lambert, NHBF chief executive says, “We have made good progress, but some of the project workstreams such as sector recruitment and retention will take more time.  We will continue to implement the Sector Skills Action Plan and the cross-sector group will meet again in October 2023 to discuss and evaluate what we have achieved. We will continue to work alongside industry partners with the support of Government for the collaboration, to address all the issues highlighted by the report.

Notes to editors:

Careers at the cutting edge: tackling the skills shortage in the hair and beauty sector, is based on an industry-wide survey of nearly 600 businesses across the sector, interviews with 20 business owners across the UK and with some education providers. The analysis was carried out by the consultancy Pragmatix Advisory, whom the NHBF previously commissioned to produce a report about the impact of the pandemic on the hair and beauty sector.

Established in 1942, the National Hair & Beauty Federation (NHBF) has 5,500 Members and is the UK’s largest trade body for the hair, beauty and barbering industries. The NHBF focuses on helping Members to run successful and profitable hair and beauty businesses by providing advice, specialist support and tailored services to meet the unique challenges of running a salon or barbershop.

For media enquiries about the National Hair and Beauty Federation, please contact

SLBPR: Sharon Brigden | sharon@slbpr.co.uk | 0113 269 8100 | 07939 136283