Creative HEAD UK January 2019

A ‘New Year, new you’ mentality is taking hold of your clients, so why not
extend the sentiment to the salon, too? Last year was another difficult one –
with rents and rates on the rise, a shortfall in staff numbers and apprentices,
not to mention the economic uncertainty of Brexit on the horizon. A Local Data
Company survey on retail in the UK illustrates the difficulties further, revealing
declining high street footfalls – for the first nine months of 2018 footfall was
down 8.1 per cent, which makes it 18 consecutive months of decline.
The picture it painted of the salon landscape was stark. The survey revealed
more salons offering solely hairdressing were closing than opening, while
salons offering other services with hair – such as beauty – were increasing.
Data revealed that there were 346 more hair and beauty salons in the past
three years (and 44 in the past 12 months), while over the past three years
there was a net loss of 252 hair-only salons, 217 of them in the past 12 months
alone. It’s clear that diversifying services is making an impact.
If you haven’t already, you need to take a forensic look at your business to
see how you can not only survive but thrive. How can you make the most of
the time and the space that you have to entice consumers back out to the high
street and into your salon? Hilary Hall, chief executive of the NHF and NBF,
notes: “It makes sense for hair salons to diversify and provide ‘added value’
services to time-poor clients who would pay extra for a manicure or a facial
when they’re already in the salon anyway. It’s all about understanding your
market and what clients want and will pay for.”
ALL UNDER ONE ROOF
Creating a beauty or wellness hub is certainly one way to improve your client
offering, to convince them to linger and enjoy multiple treatments under
one roof. The new Hersheson’s salon very much uses this approach – and
it’s something Michael Van Clarke in London is heavily investing in. Owner
Michael has already spent £1.5m on renovating and upgrading the salon
space in the past three years and is banking on wellness trends continuing.
“We’ve extended our beauty offering with
extra rooms, our massage therapist is training
in reflexology and our pedicurist is gaining
her medical qualifications in podiatry,”
he explains. “This investment will shift
our whole business towards our offering
being combined beauty and wellness in an
environment that’s like a club clients want to
spend time in.”
Building additional services into the space
rather than sticking them in the corner
is crucial to selling the idea of this multiworking
space. Westrow Skipton is one such
integrated concept salon; the latest addition
to Westrow’s Yorkshire portfolio has a huge
2,500 square feet of salon space for hair,
beauty and lifestyle.
Steve Rowbottom, group director, felt that
simply tacking a nail bar into the salon would
be unlikely to catch the attention of new
clients in the same way. “The beauty services
offered at Westrow Skipton are integral to
the salon, rather than an afterthought,”
he explains. “Clients are confident that
they’re receiving a first-rate beauty service.
We recognise that the high street is changing,
and clients are increasingly looking for
a ‘one-stop shop’ – somewhere they can
indulge in beauty treatments alongside hair
appointments, as well as pick up products
and gifts.”
WESTROW’S ONE-STOP HAIR AND BEAUTY SHOP
CREATIVE HEAD 69