We at BarberEVO, along with the rest of the barbering world, are shocked and devastated by the loss of legendary barber and friend, Allan Stone.

46 year old Allan Stone was the owner of Stoney’s Barber Shop in Laygate, South Sheilds. Allan was a named a Grandmaster Barber by the British Master Barbers (BMB) Alliance, he was a Master Barber, and was also recognised by the British Barbers’ Association. Allan Stone was a a big supporter of the barbering industry ­– always pushing for higher standards and education, and he was a regular at most barbering shows, always offering advice and kind words.

Stone began his career in the industry as a young man, working as a Saturday worker at Saks Hairdressers in Newcastle while he was still at school. Allan Stone, was dedicated to sharing his knowledge and skills, and worked as part-time lecturer at South Tyneside College, while running two locations of his barbershop in South Shields.

We, at BarberEVO, are absolutely devastated to learn the news of the passing of our friend Allan Stone.

Full of energy and a real zest for life, Allan truly was one of the most genuine, larger than life guys you could ever wish to meet.

His presence MADE barbering trade shows worth attending alone, Allan put a smile on everyone’s face, almost effortlessly and we will cherish those memories forever.

Only last week Allan reached out to check in on Andrew and David, full of that Geordie banter and light-hearted exchanges that epitomised why Allan was liked by so many.

Our thoughts are with his family, his friends, and the very many industry peers throughout the UK and beyond who will be truly saddened to hear of his passing.

If you are able to do so, please consider making a donation to this fund set up to help support Allan Stone’s family with funeral costs.

The outpouring of emotions in the aftermath of Allan’s passing has been truly sad, but equally heart-warming to read all of the kind words every single person has had to say about the one and only Stoney.

Rest easy Stoney.

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/allan-stone?utm_term=AxGXWgeAv&fbclid=IwAR0HwgUWVLTjoSY_X9wtDbKyzTwhojtxKj9HwwbNyWXLVBudpFQNY3Q1fN8

As of the 25^th of January, Health Officials have lifted the Regional Stay at Home Order in California and put the state into the ‘Purple Tier.’

This allows ‘personal care services’ such as barbershops, hair salons, and nail bars to operate indoors. However, Health Officials ask that businesses operate at 25% capacity, and continue to social distance and wear face masks where applicable.

Until the 25,^th California had been the only state in which barbershops and hair and beauty salons were under strict regulations to stay closed.

Thankfully, the ICU percentages and case rates have remained low enough over the last month for restrictions to be lifted enough for beauty industry professionals to get back at it.

A cutting-edge first phase of Digbeth’s new lifestyle complex is to open mid-October, powered by barber appointment booking software, Booksy.

BOOKSY UK is excited to announce the partnership with art.barbers – the first element of an innovative lifestyle complex, art.quarter, to launch – on the 16th of October 2020 in Digbeth, Birmingham. art.barbers will offer the highest quality barbering to men in Birmingham, whilst utilising Booksy’s health and beauty appointment booking system, with a plethora of COVID-conscious features to provide the ultimate barber shop experience.

“Booksy UK is proud to partner with art.quarter for the innovative launch of their first phase opening, art.barbers. Going to the barbers is no longer just popping in for a quick trim – it’s an important, imperative part of the modern man’s lifestyle. The overall client experience from seamless multi-channel booking, right through to post-appointment engagement has to be carefully considered to set a business apart from the rest – every step of the client’s experience counts.

Now when a visit out of the house is a much more considered trip, our end
users are looking for every opportunity to enjoy themselves in the safest
possible way – which is exactly what art.barber will offer. Clients want to immerse themselves in a stylish, unique environment that reflects the high level of skill sets from the team members, as well as being confident that the venue has their safety in mind with plenty of COVID-19 precautions in place, so both clients and barbers will have true peace of mind knowing they have taken every precaution to make safety a priority”, say Megan Mackie, UK Marketing Manager, Booksy UK.

art.quarter’s founder, Jordan Patel, expressed his excitement about the
opening, saying, “It’s great to be able to offer a beacon of hope in these
extremely trying times for the city. Coronavirus has had such a massive impact on the high-street, so to be in a position to open a business in this time and provide both employment and training to this number of people in the process, is a real blessing”.

art.barbers will form just the first part of art.quarter’s wider retail and lifestyle complex; comprising also of a women’s beauty salon, café, bakery, events space and food court. The next stages of the development are due to open later in 2020.

Left to Right: Mentor Terrance Henigan, His & Hers Barber School Owner, José Gardea, Sebastian Moore, Andre Whittington, His & Hers Barber School Instructor, Irene Youngblood, and Mentor Brenda Potts gathered to support the two graduates as they received their certificates last December in 2019.

Wahl Clipper Corporation’s Professional division, Chicago social service organization UCAN, and local business Larry’s Barber College are pleased to announce the awarding of scholarships to four new students as part of the Wahl Professional Fade it ForwardTM scholarship program. The event will take place on Tuesday, September 22, at 10 a.m. at UCAN, 3605 W. Fillmore St., Chicago, IL 60624.

In December 2019, Wahl Professional welcomed its first graduates of the philanthropic program, Andre Whittington, and Sebastian Moore, of Chicago, IL as they completed their barber college program at His & Hers Barber School. Both Whittington and Moore went through a challenging 13-month program that prepared them for their future careers as barbers and entrepreneurs.

For Chicago, this is the second group of Fade It Forward ^TM students to go through the program and will be furthering their education at Larry’s Barber College, 701 E. 79th Street in Chicago. The students going through this second installation of the program are Amari Brown, Brandon Williams, Dakota Newton-Powell, and Colby Taylor. Each of these students will be supported throughout the program by UCAN as well as a mentor – a professional barber in the Chicago area – who will help guide the students and give them their first experience working in the industry.

“The Fade It Forward^TM program is as much about supporting our at-risk youth as it is about helping them become professional barbers,” says Garland Fox, barber and Wahl Education and Artistic Team (W.E.A.T.) member. “We’re fortunate to partner with UCAN, which provides the ongoing support the students need as they progress through their barber education.”

For Fox, the creation of this philanthropic program is about giving back to the next generation, as he once was homeless, and credits becoming a barber as something that changed his life for the better. Fox’s inspiration and determination to help youth gain better lives is not only taking root in the Chicago area, but Wahl Professional has started the program in St. Louis, MO, and plans to expand to Cleveland, OH in 2021.

Visit wahlpro.com/education/fadeitforward for more information on the program and event.

To celebrate their 10^th birthday, leading men’s grooming brand The Bluebeards Revenge is proud to announce a business-wide packaging rebrand, aimed at improving recyclability and reducing waste for a cleaner future.

This exciting movement begins with a promise from the brand to “drastically reduce the amount of virgin plastic and single-use packaging” they use by 2022.

The first product to receive an eco makeover is the brand’s best-selling Pre-Shave Oil, which now features a 100% recycled plastic bottle and a newly designed label.

On the decision to radically redesign the brand’s packaging, Managing Director David Hildrew said: “The world around us is changing. As an established global brand we have a responsibility to ourselves and our customers to do as much as possible to minimise any negative effects on the environment.

“We are very proud of the steps we’ve taken with our newly designed Pre-Shave Oil and its 100% recycled plastic bottle. But this is just the beginning. Our new Pre-Shave Oil will soon be joined by a whole host of other exciting changes that’ll help to move our brand into the future in a responsible way.”

One of those additional changes will see the introduction of a new series of 150ml aluminium tins; to replace the current 100ml plastic tubs that the brand uses for its shaving and styling supplies. “These reinforced tins are infinitely recyclable and larger than our previous versions,” added Mr Hildrew. “We’ll also be encouraging all of our customers to get creative, finding new and exciting ways to repurpose our tins, rather than throwing them away.”

In recent years, plastic consumption has become a major concern for consumers. In fact, a recent survey by YouGov revealed that 46% of Britons feel guilty about their plastic consumption, while 82% are working hard to reduce the amount they throw away.

These statistics were supported by a consumer survey The Bluebeards Revenge carried out in late 2019, when more than 80% of responses confirmed that the environmental impacts of the products they purchased were important to them.

One big development to the brand’s new look is the absence of their iconic cartons. “Removing our products from their cartons was an incredibly difficult decision,” admits Mr Hildrew, “but it’s a decision we’re confident is for the best.”

When asked whether they’d prefer to see the brand’s products in or out of a carton, 56% of those surveyed voted for the latter. “Much of the feedback we received about our cartons in the build up to this rebrand suggested that, once opened, they were simply recycled or binned by end-users,” explained Mr Hildrew. “With this in mind, we’ve made the brave decision to remove this single-use packaging from as much of our brand as possible. We hope that this will help to drastically reduce any wastage our products create, while still maintaining the strong shelf presence our skull and crossbones logo is known for.”

The National Hair & Beauty Federation (NHBF) has released the results of its recent State of Industry survey, conducted across hair and beauty salons and barbershops throughout the UK. The results are now being used to put pressure on the government to support the hair and barbering industry to avoid a significant loss of jobs and closure of businesses that currently contribute over £7.5bn in turnover for the UK economy.

The survey, which was undertaken between the 20th and 31st August received 2,018 responses. The widely held view of those within the sector is that government is dismissive of the hair and beauty industry, does not understand it or those working within it, and underestimates the sector’s value. One in four responses stated ‘I don’t feel [the government] understand our industry at all’.

Despite re-opening at the beginning of July, three in four salons and barbershops reported that business was down compared to the same period last year. Two thirds expected business to remain slow based on their forthcoming bookings for the next three months, with 35% genuinely worried about how little business they have coming up. Of most concern from the results was that 41% could not say if their business would survive until Christmas. 

Whilst not many had yet made redundancies, almost a third said they expected to cut staff in the next three months and 44% could not guarantee job security. Already staff have seen their hours reduced (55% across hair and beauty but an alarming 74% in the beauty sector alone) with recruiting either new employees or taking on apprentices – despite financial incentives – looking hugely unlikely. 

The beauty sector has been particularly impacted due to the extra time they have been forced to close and the bans on treatments around the face, with some treatments still prohibited in the devolved nations. Based on their current workload and the operational restrictions within the government guidelines, 40% of businesses in the beauty sector were not earning enough to cover outgoings such as rent, overheads, staff costs and stock. One in four businesses across the entire hair and beauty sector also reported they could not cover their costs.

Hilary Hall (pictured above), NHBF chief executive said, “Whilst the survey results paint a bleak picture this does not have to be the case. The recovery of the hair and beauty sector is dependent on additional help from the government.  We continue to campaign hard, calling on the government to provide extra support as they have for hospitality. We expect them to consider additional measures such as hardship grants, VAT reductions, further extensions to business rate reliefs, restraint on proposed wage increases and other measures for sectors like ours that can only offer greatly reduced services, putting the longer-term survival of businesses and thousands of jobs at risk.”

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

Squire Technologies has launched its latest feature which will allow barbers and barbershops to order their supplies and products from Squire Supply.

The new feature offers barbers prices 15% lower than market value, the option of monthly recurring orders and free shipping, as well as 50% off with their first order throughout September.

On their Instagram page, the brand released a statement explaining the new feature and how it will continue to support the industry:

“We are excited to share that SQUIRE has taken another huge step in advancing the barber industry. […] We are with you and we will always continue to innovate the industry. SQUIRE has also committed to waive subscription fees through December 31 2020, to assist customers in offsetting the financial burden of operating through a crisis.”

To find out more, visit www.supply.getsquire.com or call 1 (800) 600 9302 to order now.

Back to normality!

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 autumn days with a splash of colour. Issue No.22 is bold, make no mistake about that!

The latest edition of our 104 page, printed magazine is brimming with inspiration and advice from some of the industry’s biggest names. As you flick through your copy, you’ll see how they’ve been fighting to make sure that this comeback is a success and that the barbering industry won’t be disappearing again any time soon.

We delve into everything from tech to going green (environmentally, that is). Danny Robinson shares details of his futuristic new Danny & Co. shop, while we look at the latest innovations in barbershop technology, and on the other end of the scale, all-natural brands and barbershops.

We focus on tattoos, from independent artists like Quyen Dinh, to studios like Deerheart Collective, finding out how the pandemic has affected them day-to-day.

Our interview with the always colourful Tom Baxter is a great read – he tells us about his fantastic new educational series, and why the industry needs to go back to basics when it comes to colouring techniques.  

We’re also speaking to some fantastic barbershops from all corners of the UK to find out how they’ve found things post-lockdown. Luka Chitty of Luka’s Barbers tells us about his incredible new project, Together Create, which he hopes will inspire small, local businesses to come together and create something beautiful.

This issue really is about coming together and supporting the industry, local businesses and artists in this very weird period in time. I hope reading it brings a little spark of hope to your day and inspires you to check-in and support each other.

Stay safe, stay creative, and look out for your community – we’ll get through this together!

Government officials have warned the NHBF that they will close the hair and beauty sector if they don’t follow safety guidelines.

The NHBF is launching the #DoItRight campaign to ensure hair and beauty professionals across the UK understand exactly what is required of them to keep working and reduce the risk of further restrictions or lockdowns. 

The NHBF want to stress how important it is for everyone to follow the guidelines and operate in a COVID secure way to protect yourselves, your employees, clients and to protect the industry from being locked down again.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has issued a statement to the NHBF which says all businesses are at risk of receiving formal action from local authorities if they are not following their risk assessments. Failure to comply with an enforcement notice from a local authority officer can lead to prosecution in the criminal courts and penalties including fines or up to two years’ imprisonment.

In England, the main points that people need to remember are:

• Wearing a visor – the guidelines which were updated on 14 August now say you must also wear a Type II face mask for extra protection
• Using a booking-only system and maintaining social distancing in the workplace
• Frequent washing of hands
• Using screens and back-to-back/side-to-side working 
• Frequent cleaning and disinfecting of surfaces and tools, especially after each client
• Contacting clients before appointments to check if clients have COVID symptoms, in which case they must cancel
• Displaying the COVID 19 Secure notice in a prominent place

The rules are slightly different in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, but they apply to everyone working in hair and beauty: hairdressers, barbers, nail technicians, beauty therapists, eyebrow and eyelash professionals and beauty aesthetics practitioners, including mobile workers in hair and beauty. 

Hilary Hall, chief executive of the NHBF says, “We have worked hard to ensure hair and beauty salons, barbershops and individual professionals can get back to work but because some are failing to follow the guidelines, they are putting the whole industry at risk. We’ve launched our #DoItRight campaign to help hair and beauty businesses across the UK understand the guidelines that apply in their part of the country.  The last thing any of us want is to face further restrictions, further lockdowns or a second spike in coronavirus infections. The impact on our industry would be devastating.  Please do your bit to help and show you’re putting the industry first as well as protecting the safety of your teams and your clients.”

The full Safer Workplace guidelines are available to view in full at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/close-contact-services

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

Barbershop management tool Squire has announced the suspension of subscription fees. The move, which will see all subscription fees waived until 2021, will provide further support to the barber industry.

The app allows users to discover barbershops, book appointments, and pay for haircuts directly from your mobile. Customers are charged $0.99 to book appointments, which is added at checkout.

The app has staff management, marketing and POS capabilities for barbershops, and has, at time of writing, over 2,000 partners.

Visit www.getsquire.com for more details.