Creative HEAD September 2017

#BusinessEdit
HAIR ROLES ‘MOSAIC’
ROLES WITHIN hairdressing are ever more
skilled, making career paths and opportunities
within the industry more of a “mosaic”, the
qualifi cations organisation VTCT and The Hair
and Barber Council has suggested in a report,
Skills Foresight 2017. The two bodies argued this
showed a case for mandatory registration.
H&Y get new job
MULTI AWARD-WINNING hairdressing
duo, Gary Hooker and Michael Young,
are the first joint ambassadors for the
NHF. Hooker & Young will use their new
role to inspire and motivate others within
the industry to build more profitable
businesses. The move is part of a range
of activities by the NHF to mark its 75th
anniversary this year, including its first
NHF Business Awards, in November.
NEW WORKER DEFINITIONS
A NEW CATEGORY of worker – a ‘dependent
contractor’ – should be created to respond to
growing rates of self-employment and the socalled
“gig economy”, according to the Review of
Modern Working Practices. While hair is not part
of the gig economy, the fact that self-employment
is so commonplace means the report could have
signifi cant implications for the industry.
APPRENTICE PAY WOES
HAIRDRESSING IS BY FAR the worst industry for failing to pay apprentices
their correct minimum wage, with 46 per cent of Level 2 and Level 3
apprentices not being paid what they should. This was revealed after the
government published its delayed 2016 Apprenticeship Pay Survey. The
industry also pays the lowest rates for apprentices compared with all other
sectors, with an average rate of £3.47 per hour, just 7p above the legal
minimum at the time of the survey. It’s also the sector least likely to provide
apprentices with a contract, with 20 per cent having no contract. The report
revealed that hairdressing had the highest proportion of young workers, with
almost half of apprentices aged 16 to 18, and one of the sectors most likely to
employ apprentices. Apprentices were least likely to be paid correctly in the
second year of their programme – in all industries, not just hairdressing –
with National Minimum Wage rates changing at age 19. Agnes Leonard, NHF
president, said: “For more than four out of 10 apprentices to be paid below
their rightful wage is a disgrace. If we want to attract talented young people
into our industry we have to change this image of hairdressing as a low-pay
industry and the sector most likely to fail its workers by not paying them the
legal minimum and not providing them with a legal contract of employment.”
Wage rises impact salons
NHF MEMBERS ARE finding conditions tough on the high street, with many
struggling to pay the current rates of National Minimum Wage (NMW) and
National Living Wage (NLW). The NHF carried out a survey of 271 members
to find out how they were coping with the NMW and NLW and found a five
per cent increase in members who said sales were dropping. The number of
members still positive and still seeing sales rising was also declining, down nine
per cent. More than three-quarters said the introduction of the NLW for
over-25s in April last year had increased their wage bill. Most had simply
absorbed the extra cost, while the next most common response
has been to raise prices – but salons felt this was getting
increasingly hard to do as consumer confidence
slipped. Other reactions include reducing the hours
staff work, recruiting fewer people, cutting back
investment, reducing training and slashing bonuses
or commissions. The NHF is urging the government
to show restraint in any increases in the NMW and
NLW next April.
Buy tickets now
for the NHF’s 75th
anniversary Business
Awards on 19 November
at the VOX Conference
Centre, Birmingham.
Visit nhf.info/
nhfbusinessawards
To find out more information and how to join the NHF, call 01234 831965 or visit nhf.info
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