The good and the great of British hairdressing came together for the glittering Fellowship Luncheon & Hair Awards this week, recognising the best of creativity and business acumen in British hairdressing. 

Held at The Londoner in the heart of London’s Leicester Square, some 400 industry greats, peers and ones to watch came together for a three-course lunch followed by special Hair Awards to celebrate the creativity and successes of its membership, including the presentation of the Fellowship’s highest accolade, Fellowship Hairdresser of the Year.

Hosted by President Robert Eaton and Chancellor Karoliina Saunders,  Robert Eaton said: “It was an honour to become your President and from the moment I came on board there’s been a seismic shift in the industry. But, whatever you decide to do with your career, the Fellowship will be there to support you.

A special thanks went to the Project leaders for 2021-2022who have inspired their teams during the most challenging times the industry has faced – ClubStar Art Team leader Karoliina Saunders, Project Colour leader Paul Dennison, Project X leader Sam Burnett and leaders of the F.A.M.E. Team Gary Hooker and Michael Young. 

The new F.A.M.E. Team leader was announced to a standing ovation as three-times British Hairdresser of the Year and former Fellowship Hairdresser of the Year, Sally Brooks. She will be mentoring the new team who have an incredible year of amazing opportunities in front of them – Stephanie Gallagher from Wonderland; Stacey Wright from McKoy Hair Company; Edd Moss from Headmasters and James Parr from Nashwhite.

As well as the old favourites, members were also recognised for going above and beyond throughout the past 12 months, giving up their time to mentor, lead and help at events. 

2022 saw a slew of new awards launched – Educator of the Year and Session Hair Stylist of the Year was joined by Hall of F.A.M.E. Award, celebrating the successes of former F.A.M.E. team members. 

The biggest award Fellowship Hairdresser of the Year was presented to TONI&GUY global creative director Cos Sakkas to a standing ovation, the second major award he has clinched in the last week. 

And the winners are:

Fellows with Honours

Kay Binnersley

Simon Shaw

Sam Burnett

David Mannah

Darcey Clarke

Fellow with Distinction

Paul Dennison

Gary Hooker

Michael Young

Karoliina Saunders 

Gold Medal

Karine Jackson

Member of the Year

Emma Simmons

Sassoon Scholarship

Phoebe Carraro 

• 

• 

Achievers of the Year

Project Colour – Kayleigh Byrne

Project Men – Janene Hawkins Bush

Project X – Cameron Willetts

ClubStar Art Team – Samantha Bickle 

Fellowship Hall of F.A.M.E. Award – Errol Douglas MBE and Robert Masciave

President’s Award – Guy Kremer

Fellowship Hairdresser of the Year – Cos Sakkas

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Image Awards

Fellowship Image of the Year – Cos Sakkas, TONI&GUY, London 

Fellowship Afro Image of the Year – Robert Masciave, Metropolis Hairdressing, Kingston-upon-Thames 

Fellowship Colour Image of the Year – Tim Scott-Wright, The Hair Surgery, Stourbridge 

Fellowship International Image of the Year – Danny Pato, D&M Hair Design, New Zealand 

Fellowship Men’s Image of the Year – Dom Capel, Lara Johnson Lifestyle, Swansea

Fellowship Snapshot Image of the Year – Lydia Stiles, TONI&GY Canary Wharf

• 

• 

• 

• 

Art & Commerce Awards

Fellowship Individual Salon of the Year – Smith England, Salisbury

Fellowship Salon Group of the Year – The Chapel Group

Fellowship Educator of the Year – Dom Capel

Fellowship Session Hair Stylist of the Year – Lisa Farrall

For more information:

Instagram: @fellowshiphair

Call 01295 724579  

Visit www.fellowshiphair.com

Note: The Fellowship for British Hairdressing was founded in 1946 as the Fellowship of Hair Artists of Great Britain and over the years has grown in stature and now covers many areas of the professional hairdressing industry. The independent, non-political organisation is run by our members, focusing on promoting artistic and creative quality, and providing support for future hairdressing talent keen to make their own mark in the industry. All the projects are designed to nurture sills and provide a career pathway – ClubStar, Project Afro, Project Extend, Project Colour, Project Men, Project Sassoon and Project X  as well as the coveted F.A.M.E. Team.  

Booksy, the leader in booking and business technology for the beauty industry, is delighted to announce their newest Brand Ambassador, Jorge Fades – better known as @jorge_fades to his 859k TikTok followers! 

Jorge didn’t start cutting hair in a fancy barbershop. Rather, he began cutting hair wherever he could plug his barbering tools into. After plenty of experience with “backyard haircuts on a plastic chair”, Jorge decided to pursue barbering as a career and became a full-time barber in 2017. Soon after, thanks to his talent and creativity, his clientele started to grow at a rapid pace.

With business booming, it became more challenging for Jorge to stay organized. When he joined Booksy in 2018, he soon realized his business become more and more organized each day. Jorge has never stopped investing in his career or his education and, in 2021, his hard work paid off when he was able to own his own salon, “Visions” in Natchitoches, Louisiana.    

As Jorge’s business grew, so did his social media following. His clever and educational TikTok videos are constantly going viral, helping him grow a substantial following, and allowing him to also pursue a successful education career.    

Since becoming a Booksy Ambassador, Jorge has gotten the opportunity to cut hair backstage at two music festivals, Furnace Fest and Is For Lover Fest 2022, as part of the Get Discovered Backstage contest by Booksy and Idle Hand Collective.  

“I love Booksy because I feel really good knowing that even though I may not technically be working at night or on a day off, I’m still actually working. Since Booksy sets all the online booking for me, I can still get clients without them having to call or text me, so I can enjoy my free time,” commented Jorge.  

Download the Booksy Biz mobile app for free or visit Booksy.com/biz to learn more.

ABOUT BOOKSY:

Booksy is a cloud-based appointment booking solution for hairstylists, colorists, barbers, nail artists, estheticians, massage therapists, salons, barbershops, spas and more. It offers appointment scheduling, calendar management, online payments, and a suite of marketing management functionalities. Android and iPhone apps supported. Booksy features two mobile applications: Booksy Biz for businesses and Booksy Lite geared more for independent professional plus a Booksy app for clients.

Wahl Professional’s one-of-a-kind program provides at-risk youth holistic support, including barber college scholarships, local barber mentors, dedicated tutoring to pass their state licensing exams, transportation stipends, and connections to social services.

Recently, Wahl Professional gathered their local partners in Cleveland, OH, to pair the latest Fade It Forward® Scholarship winners with their professional barber mentors.

Cleveland barbers Jermaine Smith, James Stone, Jesus Corporan, Alan Seats, Kelly Rice, Jr. and Tara Crookston have graciously agreed to mentor Fade It Forward® students. 

Wahl’s Fade It Forward® program, the most robust philanthropic program in the barber industry, aims to remove the financial burdens from barber students who would otherwise be unable to accomplish their goals of becoming professional barbers. Launched in 2018, Fade It Forward has awarded more than $350,000 in scholarships to nearly 30 young adults from 4 cities (Chicago, St. Louis, Cleveland, and San Diego).

Beyond offering at-risk youth scholarships to a local barber school, the Fade It Forward® program also offers personalized tutoring to help them pass their state licensing exams, connection to social services for those in need, transportation stipends to get to school, and a one-on-one mentorship program with a local professional barber. Over the 40-hour mentorship program, students learn how to build a book of business, assist in day-to-day operations, and maintain professional relationships with coworkers. Though they are not licensed to cut hair, they learn the business of being a barber by doing a bit of everything around a shop to keep it running smoothly. This includes washing and folding towels, sweeping floors, observing their mentor’s barbering skills, and learning what it takes to build a clientele.

Once they have graduated from barber school, Fade It Forward® scholarship recipients receive tutoring from a Wahl Professional educator to help them prepare for their state licensing exam. These exams are theory-based, complex, and are often stressful for barber school students. The Wahl Professional tutor, provided at no charge, is able to focus their studying efforts and help ensure their success on the exams, their last milestone before beginning their professional barbering career.

“The barber community is fairly small, so building a network is important. We are giving our Fade It Forward® students that entree,” says Julie Gustafson, Senior Manager, Marketing at Wahl Professional. She adds, “They will learn cutting skills in school, and will keep learning when they’re licensed, but the mentorship program is about showing them what it means to be a barber in the community, how to conduct themselves professionally, and how to build their business.”

Garland “G Whiz” Fox, Wahl Professional Educator and co-founder of the Fade It Forward® program, believes that Fade It Forward® teaches students what makes barbering a special profession: “Barbering is about community. Barbering is about taking care of everyone around you, not just in your household, but each individual person that comes through your life. You have to pay it forward. In this case, FADE it forward.”

“This is going to create the pathway for them to be successful, to impact their families, and impact their communities that they are going to be working in,” added Kelly Rice, Owner of Keratin Barber College in Cleveland, OH, who is proud to be a part of the Fade It Forward® program.

The Cleveland Fade It Forward® students are expected to complete their mentorship and graduate from barber college within the next two months.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

About Wahl Professional

Since 1919, with the invention of the first practical electric hair clipper, Wahl Clipper Corporation has been the leader in the professional and home grooming category. Today, with over 2,500 employees worldwide, Wahl is proud to carry forward the tradition of innovation and superior customer service that was created by Leo J. Wahl. Headquartered in Sterling, Illinois, Wahl distributes to 176 countries and has eight global manufacturing facilities as well as 25 sales offices. At Wahl, we are proud of our heritage of excellence as well as our remarkable list of groundbreaking innovations for the present and future for the global market. Visit http://www.wahlpro.com/ for more details.

INSTAGRAM: @ WAHLPRO • TWITTER: @ WAHLPROF • FACEBOOK .COM/WAHLPRO 

Last month several NHBF Members attended the Small Business Reception held by HM King Charles III at Buckingham Palace. Earlier this year the Palace had asked the NHBF to nominate those Members who have had an impact on the industry from which these invitees were selected. 

NHBF Vice President Mandy Lodge-Stewart and Board Member, Fiona Johnston were joined by industry legend, Andrew Collinge, alongside salon owners Mikaela Martin (Ginger Rabbit, London); Brooke Evans (BE Ironbridge, Shropshire), Debbie Digby (Passion4Hair), Julie Hensman (Hensmans), Lesley McCormack (Pamper & Polish/Michaeljohn Training), Gary Machin (The Rogers Barbers) and Erica Liburd (The Muse Salon) at the reception which celebrated the efforts of small businesses and their contributions to their local communities and the British economy after a stressful and unpredictable couple of years. 

NHBF Vice President Mandy Lodge-Stewart said, “It was an honour to meet King Charles and to gather with small business owners from across the UK. Everyone here has been championing their industries and local communities, which we’ve all been striving for during and following the pandemic. It was great to meet with other likeminded individuals and discuss our plans for 2023 and how we can keep collaborating to continue to grow.” 

NHBF chief executive Richard Lambert commented, “Despite all the challenges hair & beauty has faced over the last few year, and of what is ahead, many salons are showing incredible resilience.  We were delighted to see the sector’s contribution recognised by His Majesty.”  

@nhbfsocial

NHBF

New and renewed grants help meet real needs, secure youth success, and strengthen families in Racine, WI and beyond.

The Andis Foundation is proud to announce it has awarded $1.5 million since its founding in 2015. With its guiding principle of building strong communities on the foundation of family, small grants recipients have all shared a common goal of creating lasting impact. Until recently, all have been in or directly benefited Racine, WI where four generations of Andis Company leaders have called home..

“For 100 years, Andis has thrived in Southeastern Wisconsin, which is why we are honored to be able to give back to the communities that have given us so much whether here in Racine, WI or beyond in Fort Myers, Fl, where we have helped with hurricane relief, or in Kansas City, MO where we’re supporting Pawsperity — a nonprofit that transforms lives through pet grooming,” said Laura Andis Bishop, President of Andis Foundation. “We would not have made it to our centennial year without the support of people across the country and it is so meaningful for all of us at the Andis Foundation to work toward keeping families and communities connected.”

New and renewed Andis Foundation grants recipients are detailed below:

New Grants

• TwinCutZ Barbership in Fort Myers, FL — funding free haircuts for first responders, healthcare workers, linemen and anyone negatively impacted by Hurricane Ian.
• Cops ‘N Kids Reading Center — engages children in the wonder of reading as the foundation for community connection and a life of success.
• The Parent Life program of Southeastern Wisconsin Youth for Christ — helping young parents achieve their dreams while building strong families. 
• United Way’s LIFT (Link and Inspire For Tomorrow) program in Racine’s community schools — provides opportunities for youth and families to connect more deeply in creative ways that bolster kids’ success.

Renewed Grants

• The Racine Art Museum Association’s Giving Tuesday Match Campaign — a unique resource providing our community with quality art experiences to discover the power of creativity.
• Wisconsin 4-H Foundation’s livestock judging activities and competitions for youth aged 5-19— designed to learn critical animal care skills, develop key character and life skills, and foster engagement in the community as well as the industry. 
• Racine, WI’s Hometown’s Hospitality Center — providing salon services to youth and families who would otherwise find it unaffordable.
• J. I. Case High School FIRST Robotics competitions — provides an excellent opportunity for all students interested in developing creative and innovation skills.
• The expansion of NAMI Racine County’s Ending the Silence peer education presentations and NAMI Teen Talk program — with demonstrated effectiveness in reducing stigma around mental illness and related topics. 
• Pawsperity, formerly The Grooming Project, in Kansas City, MO — helping single parents break the cycle of poverty and achieve financial stability through the art of pet grooming.

To help support its charitable giving, Andis Company is also excited to announce the launch of a new Andis Foundation website, in alignment with the company’s new branding.  This new site makes it easier than ever to identify and apply for grants, understand current programs, and see the foundation’s impact since its founding in 2015.

To experience the all new Andis Foundation website, visit andis.org. 

Make the most of the festive period with 5 Tips to increase your revenue!

Find out how Booksy can support your business during this time, and try out a free trial.

1. Get Yourself on the Market: During this holiday season, we can anticipate that many people will be traveling fair distances to reconnect with loved ones. But where can out-of-towners find a reliable place to get a quick cut before a family gathering? Booksy Marketplace.  Creating an online profile for your barbershop on the Booksy marketplace can help you get discovered by new clients every day. By building your profile, with great images, client reviews, and a comprehensive list of your services and prices, it has never been easier for potential clients to find you, and book in!  

2. Modify Your Menu: As time draws closer and closer to the holidays, many barbershops feel a rush of clients, just wanting a quick clean-up. During these busy few days, you might want to modify your menu list, to include shorter, faster turn-over services – to get as many of your clients in and out of the door, in time for the festivities. Booksy makes this easy-as-can-be, as you can simply create a bookable list of services you offer for the holidays.   

3. Blast Your Memos: While we all love a hand-written season’s greetings card, it might not be the most efficient way to share your news with your client base. With Booksy you can instantly get any news, promotions, changes, or reminders to your entire database, via SMS and email.  

4. Don’t Forget: This time of year, with so much going on, it would be easy to forget your head if it wasn’t screwed on right! With Booksy, you can send your clients automated reminders before each appointment, to avoid the dreaded late arrivals and no-shows.  

5. Give the Gift of Easy Shopping: What’s a better gift than time? With Booksy, clients (and your client’s loved ones) can easily purchase gift cards for time and services at your barbershop, making holiday shopping quick and painless, and putting some cash in your register, and appointments in your schedule for the slower January days.

As a barber, getting paid should be the easy part of your job. Booksy, the leader in booking and business technology for the beauty industry, has made the payment process extremely easy and even more convenient with their Booksy Card Reader. 

The Booksy Card Reader is new solution, powered by Stripe, a trusted leader in the payment processing space, that further enables beauty providers to process credit card, tap-to-pay, and mobile wallet payments – quickly, safely, and easily. This feature helps beauty pros spend less time chasing payments and more time doing what they love. 

Tameika Swint is the Executive Director and Founder of Styles 4 Kidz and is an avid user of Booksy Card Reader. This payment solution, that’s fully integrated with the Booksy app, has helped her business in more ways than one. Thanks to this feature, her salon’s checkout process is 5x faster! The tap-to-pay option is a huge benefit in a busy salon environment as it speeds up the process even more.

“One of the biggest downsides of a slow checkout experience is that you or your business look unprofessional. Before Booksy, we were spending an average five minutes at checkout. Now we’re spending a minute or less,” shared Tameika.   

This simple, more convenient way to pay helps Tameika and her staff spend more time building relationships, being creative and ultimately delivering the best experience possible to their clients. Styles 4 Kidz is a non-profit organization, so income reporting is also extremely important for their salon. With everything bundled in the app, Booksy Stats & Reportsenables users to pull reports easily, saving time and energy. A business owner can access their data and analytics at the touch of a finger.  

On average, Booksy Card Reader users see a 10% increase in tips and an 18% increase in average booking value. With Booksy Card Reader, beauty professionals get free next business day payouts or they can use Fast Payouts to get money within 30 minutes for a flat 1% fee. 

In a few easy steps, any beauty professional can start getting paid faster: 

1. In the Booksy app, head to “Business Settings” and click on “Customer Payments” 
2. Select “Payment Types” and choose “Booksy Card Reader”
3. Select “Verify”. After you complete the verification process, you can order your Booksy Card Reader
4. Once you receive your Booksy Card Reader in the mail, connect it to your Booksy app and start processing payments

Download the Booksy Biz mobile app for free or visit Booksy.com/biz to learn more.

ABOUT BOOKSY:

Booksy is a cloud-based appointment booking solution for hairstylists, colorists, barbers, nail artists, estheticians, massage therapists, salons, barbershops, spas and more. It offers appointment scheduling, calendar management, online payments, and a suite of marketing management functionalities. Android and iPhone apps supported. Booksy features two mobile applications: Booksy Biz for businesses and Booksy Lite geared more for independent professional plus a Booksy app for clients.

The new independent suspension cutter bars and easily removable micro-thin gold foils provide an ultra-smooth, ultra-close finish without bumps or irritation. 

Wahl Professional listened to the requests of barbers and stylists around the world and designed the new 5 Star Vanish® finishing tool to give them what they wanted: foils that remove easily without tearing or denting, the closest shave possible, and a fuel gauge to display battery life.

The NEW Wahl Professional 5 Star Vanish® shaver provides an ultra-close finish without irritation thanks to a revolutionary new independent suspension cutting system and micro-thin gold foils that hug the face, head, and neck for the smoothest shave out there. Designed with a power level light with smart LED fuel gauge display, 100+ minutes run time and a travel power-saver mode, you’ll always be ready to go. Wahl Professional knows that barbers who work all day need a tool that feels good in their hand. The ergonomic design with comfort grips provides a well-balanced, comfortable, and secure hold at any angle. A quick release button makes removing the entire shaver head fast and easy. And the micro-thin gold foils easily remove individually – without tearing or denting – for cleaning, rotating or replacement. 

“The 5 Star Vanish® Shaver does more than just shave. You can blend bald fades, eliminate stray hairs on finished hairstyles and clean up neck and facial hair,” says Wahl Professional Educator, Nieves Almaraz (@howtofadehair), “I can save money by extending the life of my gold foils by easily popping them out and rotating them and by replacing just one gold foil, instead of the entire shaver head.”

Barbers and stylists can purchase The Wahl Professional 5 Star Vanish® Shaver for $129 at wahlpro.com or by visiting their local distributor.

About Wahl Professional

Since 1919, with the invention of the first practical electric hair clipper, Wahl Clipper Corporation has been the leader in the professional and home grooming category. Today, with over 2,500 employees worldwide, Wahl is proud to carry forward the tradition of innovation and superior customer service that was created by Leo J. Wahl. Headquartered in Sterling, Illinois, Wahl distributes to 176 countries and has eight global manufacturing facilities as well as 25 sales offices. At Wahl, we are proud of our heritage of excellence as well as our remarkable list of groundbreaking innovations for the present and future for the global market. Visit http://www.wahlpro.com/ for more details.

INSTAGRAM: @ WAHLPRO • TWITTER: @ WAHLPROF • FACEBOOK .COM/WAHLPRO 

Today, L’Oréal Professionnel, the pioneering hair brand and trusted partner of hair stylists since 1909 becomes the first to create virtual hair looks for cross-gaming avatars.

In partnership with Ready Player Me, the world-leader in avatars for multi-app use, and working with 3-D artist Evan Rochette, L’Oréal Professionnel releases the first in a series of hairstyles for users to curate their personal avatar and push the boundaries of self-expression. Five textured hair looks are available to enable gamers express themselves. Making interconnected virtual worlds a reality, avatars created on Ready Player Me are compatible with more than 4,000 games, platforms and apps globally.

“For more than 110 years, L’Oréal Professionnel has put its pioneering spirit at the service of hairstylists, to develop the professional hair industry and elevate the expression of hair beauty in the world, “ says Anne Machet, L’Oréal ProfessionnelGlobal General Manager.

“We see this exciting partnership with Ready Player Me as a meaningful way to continue our journey in the virtual world. We cannot wait to push technical and creative boundaries to provide the community with limitless hair expression possibilities.”

“L’Oréal Professionnel’s hair styles are an amazing addition to the Ready Player Me platform”, said Timmu Tõke, CEO & Co-Founder of Ready Player Me.”

“We couldn’t be more excited to partner with the L’Oréal Group and bring their avatar customization options to our avatar creator and all apps and games compatible with Ready Player Me, including Spatial, HiberWorld, and VRChat.”

After the first five Ready Player Me looks, L’Oréal Professionnel will continue to build a bridge between hair pros and CG artists next year to develop hair beauty and self-expression in the virtual world.

Follow us all year long. @LorealPro

www.lorealprofessionnel.com #LorealPro #LorealProMetaverse

With the sector still trying to recover from the covid lockdowns, the current cost of living crisis and the mayhem of the mini budget, many of our members are seriously worried about the future of their businesses.

UK salons are the main occupier of high streets up and down the UK (46,210) and the Autumn Budget released on 17^th November has done nothing but levy a further cost rise on employers in the sector who already struggle to meet wage bills due to loss of trade following the Covid lockdowns and since the mini budget.  A forced NMW increase of 9.7/10.9% plus employer oncosts will most certainly force the industries underground market to expand even further.

Employers in the industry are the ones sinking fast! With only 33% of workers in the industry now “employed”, and the only ones likely to be paying VAT are now also weighted down with increasing high energy costs and again MORE employment costs.

Every employer believes their employees deserve more, but the Government has naively levied an increase on a sector that is trading in a two-tier business model with employers now losing the race.  Employers want to retain staff, invest, grow and develop their businesses but they have not even had a chance to trade out of covid with many still not back to 2019 revenues, yet costs continue to rise at an unsustainable level.

Apprenticeships jobs already at risk from the pandemic and lack of Government support means this now forced wage increase will result in many 16–18-year-olds losing their apprenticeships, potentially forcing them onto benefits. 

The industry is not regulated so there is no consumer protection in place to protect the public from rogue traders who have never trained or qualified in the industry. The consequence of Government choices has now increased what was already an endemic problem in the industry. The Hair and Barber Council are constituted by the 1964 Hairdressing Act with qualified professional hairdressers and barbers able to voluntarily register with the Council, but the mass of rogue traders will continue to plough trade in our sector forcing the entire industry in a race to the bottom.  Once regulated the sector would be managed by industry experts and professionals who have worked in the sector for many years. 

The Hair and Barber Council URGENTLY needs the following support to help it to survive and prosper.:

• Suspend business rates to help with high energy costs – include the personal care sector and give 75% discount or 100% to high street salons/barbers. 
• Give the sector a VAT cut and level up the playing field  
• Introduce HMRC time to pay for industries still plagued with covid debt from pandemic lockdowns they did not choose. 
• Support Apprenticeship costs for salon employers with an Apprenticeship furlough type scheme to SAVE JOBS. 
• Convert BBL/CBILS for small businesses locked down to grants. 
• HM Treasury to meet with The Hair & Barber Council and other organisations to deal with critical issues plaguing the industry. 
• Government to pay SSP for small employers as all are still impacted by covid absence 
• Make regulation mandatory to stop rogue traders, protect consumers and our professional sector.

For more information please contact;

colletteosborne@haircouncil.org.uk

keithconniford@haircouncil.org.uk