Over the weekend, the team from Wahl Professional’s DISRUPTOUR 2020 combined to deliver an Instagram video update following the postponement of many of the key dates of the tour due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Household names like Trevor Moots, Nieves Almaraz, John Carmona, Lisa Finucane, Kevin Nguyen and of course Byrd Mena teamed up (remotely!) to advise that DISRUPTOUR 2020 would be detoured – and ready to come back in full in 2021.
Dave Salvant and Songe LaRon, co-owners of Squire Technologies, the all-in-one platform powering barbershop operations, have committed $20,000 to the fight against injustice.
In an announcement made on the 3rd of June via Squire’s social channels, the co-owners made clear their stance on the events of the past several weeks in America. “What we stand for is clear: Black Lives Matter.”
Squire will work to be part of the solution, and will donate the generous sum equally amongst four organisations: Equal Justice Initiative, Black Lives Matter, Detroit Justice Center and Campaign Zero.
We at BarberEVO applaud this stance and wish to state our own support for justice, equality and societal change as we collectively seek to stamp out all forms of racism, bigotry and injustice.
BarberEVO is thrilled to report that Adam Sloan will be Chairing the Hairdressing Industry Advisory Board as well as the Barbering from June 2020.
Adam has been in the Hair Industry for 42 years now, specialising in Hairdressing and Barbering, and based on the passion he has shown during his recent appearances on #EVOLive, we know his love for the industry remains constant.
As well as founding the Men’s Hairdressing Federation, Adam works closely with City and Guilds on many lovels and states that “education is the past, present and future of our industry.” Adam added that he is “deeply honored to be asked to Chair City and Guilds Hairdressing Industry Advisory Board as well as the City & Guilds Barbering Industry Advisory Board.”
We have no doubt that he will do great things in his new role and wish him the very best of luck and a massive congratulations.
The NHBF has teamped up with organisations representing the hospitality, leisure and retail industry to put pressure on the Government to raise the threshold for support for businesses facing hardship due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
The #raisethebar campaign is pushing for the £25,000 Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant to be made available to all businesses with a business rates value of up to £150,000. This would help many salons and barbershops in cities with higher business rates to deal with cash flow challenges, such as rents, that wage subsidies do not address. Currently, the £25,000 grant is only open to salons and barbershops with a rateable value of up to £51,000.
Ian Egerton, President of the National Hair & Beauty Federation and owner of The Stress Exchange in London and said, “By ignoring businesses such as mine with business rates just over the £51,000 threshold, the Government is storing up trouble to come. Not only am I not entitled to any financial grants, I also have no income at all, yet quarterly rents are still expected to be paid at the end of this month. This is not sustainable. A VAT delay does not help as ultimately the money still has to be paid back. I do not expect the government to fund failing businesses, however with no means of income and outgoings still expected, they urgently need a common sense approach to fairness.”
Hilary Hall, Chief Executive of NHBF added, “The government support has been focussed on small and micro businesses which has benefited many of our Members. But this campaign work is essential for our larger Members who have received little or no government support and rightly feel that they’ve fallen through the cracks. We hope that working together with other organisations as part of the #raisethebar campaign will increase our voice and help get these businesses the support they need to ensure their longer term survival.”
INSPIRED BY LOOKS AND STYLES FROM CLASSIC LITERATURE, MEN’S GROOMING PIONEER DAVID RACCUGLIA HAS CREATED A FRESH NEW BARBERING TREND RELEASE CALLED HIGH TEXTURE. JOINING FORCES WITH PAUL WILSON AND THE TEAM FROM ART + SCIENCE SALON, DAVID’S NEW TREND RELEASE CELEBRATES OLD SCHOOL TECHNIQUES.
The campaign was commissioned by DERT, a new socially conscious book brand, calling on the barber industry to join in promoting the cause of children’s literacy. DERT is launching a new initiative that provides storybooks to barbershops in under-resourced black communities.
HIGH TEXTURE is inspired by the great 19th century dandy authors like Oscar Wilde and Walt Whitman with their existential outlook and witty quips. A grand sense of Victorian adventure and Gothic horror is in the spirit of High Texture’s styling, reflecting writings of classic 19th-century literature greats like Robert Louis Stevenson, author of many classics including Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Treasure Island.
These influences collide with the great African American writing tradition of black writers like James Baldwin and Paul Laurence Dunbar with their call-to-arms for social change by wielding the power of the written prose and poetry. These eccentric literary inspirations are infused with a musical jolt, fueled by the soulful energy of Funk musicians like James Brown, and the impeccable glamour of Little Richard – where pure raw substance and emotion is expressed with a flashy layered personal style. High Texture compresses and fast-forwards it all to the 21st-century man.
DERT commissioned David Raccuglia to photograph 10 top American models in a range of hair expressions and fashion looks as part of a social campaign for the barber industry. High Texture promotes the cause of children’s literacy by debuting the social enterprise DERT to the barber industry. DERT is on a mission to encourage reading and learning by inspiring barbers to be literacy advocates and activating barbershops into reading friendly spaces.
“David and I are often focused on relevant trends when we create collections. What had us excited about this project is the fact that through design it would transcend trend,” says Paul Wilson, Global Artistic Director of American Crew and co-owner of Art & Science. “Art + Science salon is packed with incredible talent, so I brought one of our best master barbers, Anthony Johnson, as well Alice Salazar, our most diverse and skilled stylist. The highly textural shapes are architectural and sculptural and span all eras. We have never had so much fun on a project.”
“The barbershop has always been a space for men to gather and share stories in their journey to improve themselves,” adds David Raccuglia. “Expressing one’s style is a unique form of story-telling and barbers have the power to deepen the lives of their customers by being a catalyst to personal transformation. Like movies, sports and music, stories and characters from literature provide a universal experience that can help us dig deeper, and guide us towards being our best.”
DERT’s mission is to cultivate better lives and a stronger community through reading, stories, and the transformative power of books. DERT seeks to bring books to barbershops and salons worldwide, inspiring industry professionals to be literacy advocates that encourage their customers to best transform themselves on the inside and out.
With each purchase, DERT donates a portion of its profits towards the donation of their children’s storybooks to literacy programs in barbershops. DERT’s social mission is to ensure that all children identify as readers by having access to books and being read to on a regular basis. Reading together is vital for all children through their preschool years and beyond. DERT publishes a unique line of books and learning tools designed to engage families in reading through all stages of life.
Two brothers, an Olympia book curator, Ernesto Chavez, and a Brooklyn graphic designer, Marcos Chavez, founded DERT. Inspired to brand a new bookselling model by a symbol of nature (dirt) and the ethos of technical arts (design), the Chavez brothers formulated the concept of deep enhancement of reader technology known as D-E-R-T.
Learn more about the foundation and find out how to get involved by visiting dertbook.com.
When CEO and founder Jerry Nettuno and his team first heard about COVID-19 and as Safer at Home initiatives began to expand from one state to another, Schedulicity made the decision to waive all of their fees until July 1.
As time progressed and some barbershops and salons began to reopen, it became clear that the deadline was perhaps too soon for many of their clients. With that in mind, as of June 1, they have extended their waived fees for all businesses, including current, new and returning, until August 1. Any business can use the Schedulicity platform for free until August 1.
To find out more, or to sign up for Schedulicity, click here: https://bit.ly/2MrrTQ4
To help embed best practices and assist building the confidence of learners and their clients on how to return work safely, VTCT is releasing six new Infection Prevention qualifications for the hair, barbering, beauty, nail and sports industries, which will become a pre-requisite on all VTCT and ITEC qualifications from the 1st of August 2020.
The first qualification, which will be available for registration from Wednesday 10th June, will be Infection Prevention for Hairdressing and Barbering Services.
The VTCT have used information and materials from the World Health Organisation, national authorities in the UK and around the world, as well as learning from the experiences of those in Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore, who have been able to safely re-open barbershops and salons.
The qualification will allow learners to develop knowledge on the causes, transmissions and effects of COVID-19, the importance of social responsibility and the methods used to control transmission, such as correct hand hygiene and the use of PPE. They will also gain an understanding of the safe working practices required to protect themselves and their clients.
VTCT’s Chief Executive, Alan Woods OBE, said: “We take our responsiblity to the sector very seriously and are looking to help engender our centres, learners and their clients with the confidence that as things open up, their safety will remain paramount.”
We sat down on Monday 1st of June with representatives from the Hair and Barber Council, NHBF, VTCT, MHFed, British Master Barbers, British Barber Association, Habia and City & Guilds, to discuss the issue of state registration for barbering in the UK.
Don’t worry if you missed it. You can watch the full discussion below!
The NHBF has welcomed the latest announcement from the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, on Friday, 30th May, providing more details on the next phase of the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
Throughout June and July, the government will continue to pay 80% of wages up to a cap of £2,500 as well as employer National Insurance Contributions and pension contributions for the hours the employee doesn’t work.
From July 1, employers can bring furloughed staff back on a part-time basis, provided they pay the wages for the hours the employee works. Employers will still be able to claim under the scheme for the hours not worked.
In August, although the government will continue to pay 80% of wages up to £2,500, employers will be required to pay National Insurance and pension contributions for the hours the employee does not work. In September and moving on to October, the government payment will drop to 70%, and then on to 60% for the hours employees do not work. Employers will need to make up the amount to 80% during these months and pay National Insurance and pension contributions for the hours the employee does not work.
The scheme will close to new entrants from 30 June 2020. From this point onwards, employers will only be able to furlough employees that they have furloughed for a full three-week period before 30 June 2020. This means that the final date by which an employer can furlough an employee for the first time will be 10 June 2020.
Self-employed
individuals will be able to claim a second and final grant when
applications open in August 2020. The grant will be worth 70% of the
individual’s average monthly trading profits and will be paid in a
single instalment capped at £6,570 total.
The
first grant was worth 80 per cent of the individual’s average
monthly trading profits up to a maximum of £7,500. Applications for
this grant closes on 13 July 2020.
Hilary
Hall, NHBF chief executive commented ”The NHBF has been speaking
continuously with relevant government departments to ensure financial
support for all those in the industry, whether business owners,
employees or self-employed to make sure it does not peter out before
we have had a chance to re-open and return to full trading.
“Our sector will particularly benefit from being able to return people to work flexibly with the furlough scheme, bearing in mind salon capacity if client numbers are reduced to ensure safety and the need for childcare arrangements due to schools not fully reopening. Employers can start working out their staffing rotas and begin having these conversations ready for when the government says it is safe for hair salons, beauty salons and barbershops to re-open.”
As of today, Monday 1st of June, at 3pm, Barber Blades is moving back to an online service! This means they will be dispatching all online orders and will be doing their very best to turn them around as soon as they can.
Phone lines are still closed for now, but you can still contact the team via their live chat on barberblades.co.uk or through Facebook and Instagram.
Anyone ordering online should allow 2-3 working days for deliveries and, althought product returns cannot be accepted until after 15th June, Barber Blades have extended the warranty on all products by three months to cover this delay.
Keep an eye out on the site over the coming weeks as PPE products will be available soon!
