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Industry News

Sport Clips barbershops collecting $1,000,000 to ‘Help A Hero’

Sport Clips barbershops has been the primary supporter of the Veterans of Foreign War’s (VFWs) “Sport Clips Help A Hero Scholarship” program since 2013, providing scholarships for service members and veterans for use at post-secondary schools and trade schools. To date they have awarded 1,750 scholarships totalling $8 million.

This year, from October 12th through to December 5th, Sport Clips stores around the country will be collecting donations in-store to help fund these life-changing scholarships. More than 80% of the funds raised each year come directly from generous clients, with the balance coming from suppliers and product partners.

On Veterans Day, November 11th, participating Sport Clips locations will provide free haircuts to veterans and active duty service members as well as donating $1 for every haircut service provided on that day.

Scholarship recipients come from every part of the United States, represent every branch of service and are earning a variety of degrees including engineering, computer science, business, accounting, health care and many more. Last year’s annual promotion collected $1.35 million to continue to support the educational goals of service members and veterans. 

We salute Sport Clips for their ongoing commitment to this wonderful cause, and we salute all veterans and active duty service members for all they do.

Full details on the program can be read here.

The Booksy Doll Head Tour kicks off!

Booksy’s ‘Doll Head’ tour has just kicked off with the idea being that this social project will unite Booksy artists from all corners of the globe as they participate in a collective education project. 

One Pivot Point doll head will travel from Los Angeles to London, making five stops along the way with Booksy artists.

Each artist will do a one-hour demo that will stream live on Booksy social media channels. The project allows Booksy to provide on-trend education to existing and new merchants. It also helps engage the community and create camaraderie amongst Booksy educators and ambassadors. 

We wish the doll head safe passage on its extensive journey. The head will, of course, start with long hair in LA, then on to Las Vegas, then Orlando, ending with a pixie cut when it reaches the end of its journey in Europe. 

There will be a return journey from London, this time with a men’s mannequin head, starting out in the New Year, look out for further details on our page. 

For more details go to: https://booksy.com/blog/us/the-doll-head-tour/

Making the cut with a £30,000 barbershop upgrade

The demand requirements of the modern fashion-conscious man has seen a barbershop in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, invest £30,000 in a rebrand and a business makeover. 

Entrepreneur Kenny Parker has taken full ownership of the salon in Lisburn Square and has ambitious plans to open a new barber’s called Cut & Grind.

Kenny set the standard for men’s styling by opening the Bedford Barber Lounge in Belfast in March, he was also the founder and creator of the well-known Man Shack men’s grooming brand.

“Despite the challenges of lockdown, I remain defiantly optimistic for the future, which is why I have chosen this moment to do something different,” Kenny said.

“I’m bringing men’s grooming into the 21st century with a new salon that offers a 360-degree experience to my customers.

“I have undertaken extensive research with my clients and the wider market and responding to what men want when it comes to grooming. The new Cut & Grind salon delivers levels of comfort and interaction unseen in Northern Ireland.”

For more details go to: https://cutandgrindsalon.com

Hair and Barber Council write to Chancellor seeking financial support for sector

In a letter supported by various key institutions from the UK Hair, Barber and Beauty sector, The Hair and Barber Council have written to Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, seeking sector specific financial support.

Noting that over 337,000 people are employed in over 49,000 businesses within the UK sector, Keith Conniford, Registrar/CEO, has specifically asked for support in four key measures:

  • To immediately extend the VAT relief afforded to the hospitality sector – to allow salons, barbershops etc benefit from this also,
  • To extend Business Rates Relief for the next 2 years,
  • To offer a £1,000 contribution to all businesses within the sector to compensate for the enormous amount of PPE products required to safely service their clients,
  • To have utility bills of salons/barbershops reimbursed by energy providers or by the Government.

Please visit https://www.haircouncil.org.uk for more details on The Hair and Barber Council.

You can view the letter sent to the Chancellor in full below.

HBC-2nd-Letter-to-The-Chancellor

Stag Barber Co offering KUTZ 4 HOSPO WORKERS

Our amazing friends over at Stag Barber Co. in Edinburgh, Scotland have really stepped up to support those in the hospitality sector.

Stag Barber Co. featured in issue 21 of BarberEVO UK & Ireland

The barber shop, which is famed for charging on how long clients hair is and how long it takes to cut, regardless of gender, is known for it’s outstanding work in the community, recently supporting key workers with free hair cuts.

But now they have gone one step further, with a generous offer to cut any hospitality sector employees hair for free for the next two weeks, as local bars and restaurants are closed due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic.

Citing the importance of the local hospitality sector to the employees of the barber shop, the team at Stag Barber Co. take inspiration from the hard work, creativity and passion of those impacted by the latest restrictions, and hope that this kind gesture can help during these times.

We salute this wonderful gesture and hope that the hospitality sector in central Scotland can re-open asap. Congratulations to Stag Barber Co. for continuing to be champions of their local community in Edinburgh!

Newburgh Free Academy teachers deliver supplies to scholars

We wanted to share some exciting news amidst all of the ongoing struggles facing us all globally at this time…!

Our friends over at the Newburgh Free Academy, based 60 miles north of New York City, have like many other institutions, found that they had to move their teaching courses online – to continue to educate tomorrows barbers and stylists, but from a safe environment.

NFA Cosmetology teacher Ms. Leanne Paganelli, Barbering teacher Ms. Danielle Crinieri, and Assistant Principal Mr. Matt Spellman took it upon themselves to hand deliver necessary supplies to their scholars, so they could successfully complete requirements for their courses as they learn virtually.

We were truly honoured to be able to support this by sending complimentary copies of BarberEVO Magazine to the teachers so that they could share these with this years scholars.

We wish everyone from the NFA and other educational institutes the very best of luck as they continue to deliver world-class education and curriculum to tomorrows leading barbers and stylists!

Wahl Professional Barber Battle 2020 opens for entries

2020 has been a year like no other… but one thing that we can rely on is the excitement and anticipation that is brought about from the annual Wahl Barber Battle!

Now in its fourth year, the barber battle provides entrants with a unique, career-changing opportunity to win a place of the esteemed Wahl Education and Artistic Team for a full year.

Entrants this year must submit a video of three specific cuts, an afro cut, a taper cut, and a cut of their choosing – providing they have used Wahl clippers to perform the cut!

We exclusively sat down with 2018 winner Kevin Nguyen on EVOLive – you can view this here.

Visit the new Wahl Barber Battle website HERE for full details!

Check out this cool video from Wahl on how to enter…

Shortcuts UK offering free training to barbers

It’s a new series of free online training classes to provide Shortcuts software users with an in-depth review of Shortcut’s features.

Key topic areas include: Essential reporting, advanced appointments, client management, and employee management.

Attendance is unlimited, and viewers can engage with Shortcut’s representatives to ask questions and interact.

Details on registration can be found here.

Out now: Issue 15 North America

As we wave goodbye to one of the strangest and bleakest summers we’ve ever seen, at BarberEVO we’re hoping to brighten up your fall with some colorful content.

Issue No. 15 is bold, make no mistake about that!

Our October cover star is none-other than the incredible and inspiring Pati Plymire, aka Queen of the South – she drops details on her famous braiding techniques, working with brands like Schedulicity and Style Factor, and her Barbercon 2020 win.

BarberEvoNA_Issue15_Pati

We also look at how some incredible barbershops from across North America, like thom. and Garrett Michael Barbershop, are offering close – contact services in these strange, PPE-laden times.

BarberEvoNA_Issue15_Garrett

Plus, Toronto barber Tyler Lumb tells us about his inclusive virtual barbering service with Gillette. Kenny Duncan is back with a thought provoking piece on beard care and the effects of COVID-19 on African American barbershops, and we hear from John Carmona on why tattoo culture is intwined with barbershops.

Megastars Arod and Byrd join us to chat all things education, Wahl and social media, and Booksy ambassador Tom Baxter tells us about his new educational video series, Raw and Uncut. Plus, we chat to Candage Curran of Blackdoor Tattoo & Barber Co. to find out how things have been post-lockdown.

BarberEvoNA_Issue15_Wahl

As always, it’s a fascinating issue – we hope it brings a bit of light and inspiration to you in these strange times!

NHBF welcomes government training plans

Following months of campaigning and warnings to government regarding the need for additional education, training and skills funding for the hair and beauty sector, the NHBF has welcomed today’s announcement by the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, for the major expansion of education and training for those aged 18 and above. 

The key points are:

  • Lifetime Skills Guarantee to give adults the chance to take free college courses valued by employers
  • New entitlement to flexible loans to allow courses to be taken in segments, boosting opportunities to retrain and enhancing the nation’s technical skills
  • The opportunity to study at a time and location that suits them. 
  • Apprenticeship opportunities will also be increased, with more funding for small and medium sized businesses, such as salons, taking on apprentices. This includes greater flexibility in how their training is structured – especially in sectors such as construction and creative industries (which includes hair and beauty) where there are more varied employment patterns.

This offer will be available from April 2021 in England and will be paid for through the National Skills Fund. A full list of available courses will be available shortly. 

Hilary Hall, chief executive for the NHBF says, ‘We welcome the increased investment in apprenticeships for small and medium companies, although we will need to see more details.  We feel the funding should be focussed on older learners looking to switch careers by moving into hairdressing or beauty therapy.  

Many salons currently have no plans to take on apprentices but may change their minds if the increased investment in apprentices is focussed on older learners.  Employers are put off taking on such students as apprentices because they are only paid at the apprenticeship rate for one year of their apprenticeship course, which typically lasts two years.  As employers in our sector have a strong preference for apprenticeships and salons who are recruiting apprentices are reporting a shortage of suitable applicants, this is a great opportunity.’

The NHBF is still calling for a dedicated training and reskilling fund for those businesses such as those in the hair and beauty sector who have been the most severely hit by the current restrictions and guidelines required in order to be compliant and operate safely.

In addition to the main points the Prime Minister also announced that higher education loans will be made more flexible, allowing adults and young people to space out their study across their lifetimes, take more high quality vocational courses in further education colleges and universities, and to support people to retrain for jobs of the future.  

For more information and FAQs, please visit www.nhbf.co.uk/coronavirus and follow the National Hair & Beauty Federation on social at @nhbfsocial.