Today Squire Technologies announced a partnership with industry titan, Jason “Jay Majors” Raposo as the company’s Community Director. Appointed on March 1, Jay, whose 15-year career has taken him to impressive heights within the Barber and Hair Industry, is one of Squire’s main educational liaisons, helping to improve the quality of the conversations around community engagement and education, as well as bridging the gap between tech and one of world’s oldest professions.

Jay is a Master Barber and Educator, and is also the Founder and host of the first and second largest barber events in the world; Connecticut Barber Expo and Las Vegas Barber Expo, respectively. Raposo has been the premiere driving force in organizing and promoting the Babyliss4Barbers Team for the Conair Corporation in the U.S. and Canada, and has leveraged his position in the barber community by building relationships with consistency and integrity.

“I see immense growth potential in Squire’s operations and the opportunity to recruit, train and innovate the barbers of the future,” said Raposo. “Our people are our greatest asset. From the shop owner to the employees and most importantly the clients.”

Jason’s first major Squire initiative is a Barber Educational curriculum that will be implemented in Summer 2020, and will focus on financial literacy, time management and how to use the tools that Squire offers to help barbers expand and grow their business.

“Jason brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to Squire. His relationships and expertise are unparalleled within the barber industry,” said Squire Co- Founder, Dave Salvant.

For more information, please visit www.getsquire.com

About Squire Technologies

Squire Technologies is the leading Barbershop Management and POS software that seeks to ensure a seamless and efficient process between barbers and their clients from start to finish. Squire provides all the tools in a one-stop-shop to assist in growing a Barber’s brand and business — from implementing report analytics and marketing, to providing onboarding and customer success.

OSMO Ambassadors HeffyWheeler, JesecaMcMahon, Adele Clarke, Becky Sutherland, Myles Lewis and Tom Baxter have joined together to create social media campaign group -the International Hair Alliance (IHA) to support fellow hairdressers and barbers during the COVID-19 lock down.

The salon owners, who are all social media experts in their own right, decided to develop the IHA following the negative comments being posted soon after the government ordered the closure of salons and barbershops, “we all noticed how the vibe of the hair and barbering community on social media was suddenly all very negative or attacking fellow experts about how they were all individually responding to the crisis.  As a group we wanted to switch that over and only focus on the strengths and positivity of the hair industry so we decided to launch the Facebook Private Group and get a positive social media campaign started,” explains Myles Lewis.

In less that two weeks, the Facebook group has grown to almost 500 followers from across the country, hundreds of hashtags on Instagram and thousands of TikTok interactions.  The team are proactively communicating within the group and launched two social media campaigns: #backyourbarberand #supportyourstylist, focusing on encouraging the general public to avoid at-home hairdressing and barbering.

The team are producing TikTok videos and inviting fellow hair experts to produce their own videos in a nominations chain across Facebook, TikTok and Instagram, “the consumer media is giving advice about how you can colouryour hair at home or you’re seeing guys just grabbing the clippers and shaving their hair right off –we want our customers to know that it’s okay to leave your hair and just wait for us all to get back behind the chair. There are also alternatives to helping clients with colour fade and re-growth that don’t involve reaching for the box dyes.I’ve been creatingcolour care packagesfor use at home where I mix their usual vibrant colours with conditioner and post to them,you can suggest they use a colour enhance shampoo and conditioner too, or opt for a root touch up product. Our viral videos and challenges are a way of getting the message out to public and fellow hair experts, so that the campaign gathers momentum.  Let’s all get involved and get these hashtags trending,” says HeffyWheeler. 

The IHA is a group that not only focuses on the current COVID-19 campaigns but wants to be a safe space for hair experts to discuss key issues from mental health, business support, and sharing educational advice but always in a positive and supportive voice.  

“This is a great initiative from our ambassadors and we’re fully behind supporting the campaigns across our social platforms and hope that everyone within the professional hair industry will use the hashtags to support the industry as a whole –we all need to be in this together and support our fellow hair experts and stay positive,” concludes Sinead McLaughlin, OSMO Brand Manager.

To join the community, visit:

Facebook: International Hair Alliance

Instagram: @iha.official

Hashtag: #backyourbarber#supportyourstylist

It’s constantly being said that anyone can apply to become a British Master Barber by simply paying a few pounds! Whether this is said by people that don’t meet the criteria to justify themselves or are jealous of the profiles other barbers are building for themselves we don’t know. 

But what we do know is:

IN THE UK BARBERING INDUSTRY ANYBODY CAN CALL THEMSELVES ANYTHING THEY WANT WITHOUT HOLDING ANY QUALIFICATIONS.
It goes so much further than that, when you think about these same people opening training facility’s offering education and more without ever officially learning themselves? Some of these maybe very competent and skilled in what they do, but why not get the papers and prove it. Many barbers are calling out for regulations of our industry but with current issues including Brexit and Covid-19 this isn’t something we can see happening soon. The government see our industry as low risk and believe that customers will ultimately decide using their feet. If a barber isn’t very good the clientele will not stay around for long.
The British Master Barbers have been constantly at the forefront of barbering health and safety and believe this is the most important factor to protect ourselves and our clients. We created the first FREE to all barbering health and safety online course with a free downloadable certificate to help make our industry standards a little higher and show customers we take their wellbeing seriously. 
Along side this we have created three accreditation levels that can prove to customers that certain levels of official qualifications and time held within the industry have previously been achieved.Customers never ask to see a barbers qualifications or proof of skill and this is why we have created the British Master Barbers Accreditation.

To see of your skill can achieve our professional accreditation visit https://www.britishmasterbarbers.com/accreditation-1

PROFESSIONAL ACCREDITATIONWe have 3 levels of accreditation available.
Professional Barber – Open to all members that either hold a full barbering qualification, or can prove a minimum of two years working experience in a Barbershop.

British Master Barber – Open to all members that are fully qualified, Insured & have a minimum of five years barbering experience.Proof of NVQ / SVQ or other recognised barbering certificate will be required. We will be incorporating Direct Observation Assessments ( distance assessments ) asking you to upload a video or send a Youtube link of yourself working directly on a client to our highly qualified and well regarded assessors who can judge your physical expertise & skills to achieve all your specific status tasks.

Grand Master Barber –Applicable only to barbering Academy owners, Teachers, Lecturers & Assessors of Barbering. These members must be fully qualified and provide suitable evidence of teaching barbering & have a minimum of ten years barbering experience.Proof of Barbering / Teaching / Lecturing & Academy Qualifications will be required. We will be incorporating Direct Observation Assessments ( distance assessments ) asking you to upload a video or send a Youtube link of yourself working / teaching directly on a client to our highly qualified assessors who can judge your physical expertise & skills to achieve all your specific status tasks.
Each level requires a set criteria of tasks to be completed before successful application.

For more details regarding our FREE health and safety course visit https://www.britishmasterbarbers.com/barbering-h-s-course

What does ‘furlough’ mean?

Being furloughed means employees are kept on the payroll, even though they aren’t working for your salon or barbershop.  The minimum time employees can be furloughed for is 3 weeks.

Why does furloughing help my business?

If you furlough your employees the government will pay you 80% of their usual monthly wages before tax as of 28 February, up to a maximum of £2,500 per person per month.  The government will also pay for employer’s National Insurance Contributions and the minimum employer’s pension contributions.

How do I apply?

Through HMRC, although their online portal may not be open until the end of April 2020.

Who can be furloughed?

Employees, whether they work full-time or part-time or if their hours vary.  They must have been on your payroll on or before 28 February 2020. 

How do I furlough my employees?

If you’re an NHBF Member, you have access to ready-to-use legal letters for your employees.  These explain what furlough means and what happens next.  If you’re not an NHBF Member, you need to take legal advice about furloughing.

What can employees do while on furlough?

While they are on furlough, employees can’t earn money for your business and they can’t provide services to your business.  If they do either of these, you will have to pay them for the time they are working for you.

What about holidays?

Employees can’t be on holiday while they are furloughed.  

You must cancel any holidays employees have booked during furlough.  They can take those days back another time once your salon/barbershop has re-opened.

What about Easter bank holidays?

There are two bank holidays coming up over Easter. If your employees ​normally take bank holidays out of their holiday allowance, you must cancel these two days and put the days back into their annual leave pot.  If your employees would normally have been working on a bank holiday, these two days will ​remain in their holiday allowance. 

Do holidays build up while employees are furloughed?

Yes.  When they return to work, they will be entitled to the holiday they built up while they were furloughed.
 

What if everyone wants to take holidays at the same time?

The government has said that up to 4 weeks of holidays from this year can be spread over the next two years.

This is only a short summary.  For more details about the information given above and the coronavirus job retention scheme see the NHBF coronavirus hub: www.nhbf.co.uk/coronavirus

Follow the National Hair & Beauty Federation on social @nhbfsocial.

While this remains a difficult time for us all, we truly hope that Issue 13 of BarberEVO North American brings you some inspiration and a little bit of light in the dark.

In these uncertain times, when barbershops across North America have been forced to close, it is important that we continue to inspire each other, knowing that this will come to an end.

To provide some hope, we spoke to Anna Elliott, owner of Doc’s Barbershop in Shanghai, China, who has finally been able to reopen her shop doors and is getting back to business. We also asked our columnist and social media guru Tyrik Jackson to share his top tips on how to make the best of a bad situation and use your down time to grow and develop.

Inside this issue, we’re taking a closer look at barbershop interiors, exploring the unique style and décor of some of North America’s most awe-inspiring aesthetics, from the vintage style of Ludlow Blunt to the modern minimalism of Juice Toronto.  

Now, we know most barbershops these days offer a nip of whiskey or a cold beer with their service, but what about a full-blown café or even a Caribbean street food restaurant? Yes, they exist and we’re finding out what makes the worlds of food and fading collide.  

Elsewhere, we’re talking to our columnists about the world of cosmetology and how the line between it and barbering is becoming more and more blurred – a development that most would agree can only be a positive thing. 

If that wasn’t enough, we have a whole host of exclusive interviews with the likes of WAHL Barber Battle winner Andy Rosario, the original barber doll herself Brandi Lashay, Andis Global Educator Lici Lady Barber, the team behind Rum Barber in Scotland, and of course, our cover star, SCurl Brand Ambassador and all-around star, Sipp the Surgeon. 

We hope, above all, that you stay safe, stay healthy, and we will see you all soon. 

Order your copy here: https://bit.ly/3462HGT

When Schedulicity first launched their small business grant program, #SchedulicityCares, it was in recognition of how important every dollar is when you are working for yourself.

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In a statement earlier this week, Schedulicity CEO Jerry Nettuno announced that he would be waiving subscription fees for three months.

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American Crew UK has announced this year’s All-Star winners for the UK and Ireland.

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Byrd Mena and Lisa Finucane have successfully executed the first dates of DISRUPTOUR, powered by Wahl Professional, in San Diego California and Las Vegas, Nevada, kicking off a year-long US tour of high end barbering, hairdressing, social media and photography techniques.

The tour encompasses the best in barber and hairdressing education and is hosted by internationally recognized Byrd Mena. The troupe of highly regarded barbers are embarking on a 17 city tour in 2020 to bring an intimate ‘rock show’ of hair to those hungry for the latest in all things barbering.

“The goal is to bring solid education, relevant techniques, and an unprecedented elevation of the barbering educational experience,” says Lisa Finucane, National Director of Education with Wahl Professional. The DISRUPTOUR will be a global merry go round of the best talent in the industry – no two events are the same!

General admission tickets are $150, while the VIP DISTRUPTOUR Experience ticket is $250, which includes a souvenir lanyard, preferred seating and a LIMITED EDITION DISRUPTOUR MAGIC CLIP.

To find out about upcoming dates, get tickets and see artist line ups, visit www.disruptour.com.

Following the release of the emergency decrees to limit the spread of Novel Coronavirus in Italy, as well as the latest restrictions confirmed by other countries in Europe, Asia and the American continent to limit international travels, BolognaFiere Cosmoprof SpA, the organizer of the event, has announced a further postponement of Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna 2020 to the 3-7th September 2020.

“Since the beginning of the emergency linked to the outbreak of Coronavirus in Italy on 23 February, we have been constantly monitoring the situation, with the aim of identifying the best solutions to support the cosmetic industry – says Gianpiero Calzolari, President of BolognaFiere.

“The restrictions affecting our country and the limitations on international travels announced by other nations do not currently create the necessary preconditions for the business and networking activities at the basis of a global event such as Cosmoprof. The decision to further postpone the show in September, also based on evident prudential reasons related to the health emergency, is the result of a responsible dialogue with associations and institutions, with the common goal of creating the best scenario for the relaunch of the sector. “

“Cosmoprof in an international event, which every year attracts over 265,000 operators from 150 countries to Bologna. The actual restrictions are limiting the presence in Italy of buyers, distributors and retailers from the main markets in Europe, Asia and America for the next few months, thus draining the lifeblood of our event as well -, says Enrico Zannini, General Manager of BolognaFiere Cosmoprof SpA.

“Today more than ever we are therefore called to act with responsibility, to protect the investments and production activities of our 3,000 exhibitors and to support the sector. In September, we will work together with beauty companies and operators in the relaunch and development of the industry on a global level.”

In the next months, BolognaFiere Cosmoprof will devote its attention to the reorganization of the scheduled business activities and initiatives, to guarantee companies and operators a high-quality edition of Cosmoprof, in the name of the prestige that the brand has been able to conquer worldwide in more than 50 years.

For further information, www.cosmoprof.com