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.

A barber can often be interrupted mid-fade by a colleague shouting over, or by a phone ringing, or by a pesky hair getting stuck in a face mask etc… but how often can you say you’ve been interrupted by a BOMB SQUAD?!

This is exactly what happened to Charlie Scrivens… who had only recently opened Front Row Barbers from a garden shed at his parents house.

His Dad, David, found anti-tank shells in the garden… which led to the road being closed-off for safety as the World War 2 weapons were taken away for a safe detonation.

Let’s hope this young aspiring barber and his business continue to grow and succeed, avoiding any unnecessary explosions on the way!

We LOVE good news at BarberEVO…

Back in January of this, Kolby’s Place, a barbershop in Bloomfield, NJ was unfortunately destroyed in a fire.

Thankfully, no one was hurt, but the barbershop business owned by Qorrell Wright – with 11 barbers on hand, had to cease trade as the building was no longer safe.

The GOOD news is that the shop has reopened – thanks to a GoFundMe appeal and the kind donations of many clients and locals.

We wish the entire team the very best of luck – and hope they can close out 2020 with every success!

The TPS Barber Academy has recently reopened after being hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic this year. 30 students are currently enrolled, training hard to become the next generation of barbers.

But as demand is down due to the pandemic and social distancing restrictions, the Academy is seeing fewer customers coming in and the students are struggling to meet their requirements. Director of adult education Larry Warniment, explained:

“It’s a little over a year program to get through. It’s 1800-hours in the shop and in the classroom combined. We do haircuts, scalp manipulation, and shampoos. Currently, we are not doing facial shaves because of COVID-19.”

At the moment, the Barber Academy is offering free services until further notice in order to pick up more custom and give students more chance of getting jobs in shops and salons. Although the instructors at the academy acknowledge the stigma behind letting a student barber cut hair, they’re hopeful that customers will have an open mind. Intructor Zonta Moore said:

“You know, we want people to come in and to allow the students to get that experience, so that way when they get into the shop, they’ve already bumped their head in school, and they don’t have to worry about bumping their head out in the shop.”

The Barber Academy is taking appointments Monday through Friday from 9 AM to 4 PM. To make an appointment for a free haircut, call (419) 671-8700.

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.”

We just love this GOOD news story, and know you will too!

An anonymous businessman has donated $5,000 to Caravelli’s Barbershop in Haddonfield, New Jersey. But there’s a specific catch… owner Anthony Fiore was to use the donation to fund free haircuts for essential workers.

Not only was this random act of kindness from an anonymous donor… but Anthony also ensured to not publicise the donation until AFTER the $5,000 had been fully utilized. This was to ensure that the free haircuts for doctors, nurses, firefighters, police, EMT workers, supermarket employees and more, went to regular customers of his barbershop.

We can only congratulate both the anonymous donor and Anthony on this incredibly kind and worthwhile cause. Thanks for the good news, guys!

Do you wake up in the morning with the pile of messages on various social media and manually cope with your appointments armed with a pencil and notebook? Or you already using one of the digital booking and salon management providers, yet want to come out of the provider’s shadow and grow your brand instead of the aggregator provider’s one? Barberly has stepped up their game to help barbershops grow their client audience through convenient digital tools.

“We are a Swiss software company with a focus on bringing digital value to barbers all over the world. It seemed like a half-baked concept that just might have legs, I thought one day. Now Babrberly onboards 600+ barbershops, 70K bookings for a total value of USD15 Mio. My team and I personally appreciate each barber/ barbershop owner for entrusting Barberly to give a wing to their flight to success.” – Andrew Gubal, Barberly founder and CEO.

• Reach out to every potential client: User-friendly intuitive tools like a personalized mobile application on App Store and Google Play, that simplifies bookings for your clients, promotes positive brand image and even makes you a trendsetter for the peers – stand out from the crowd with the bright mobile app design and own logo, present your team in creative photos, upload lookbooks of best works, visualise and describe your services with photos, and many more ways to customise your mobile application. To reach and engage new clients for your business through a QR poster so that passers-by can book-in in a few clicks.
  
• Cement clients’ loyalty: Show that you care and save time for your clients. Go digital and easily reachable – Mobile app, website, fast booking page on social media, booking Self check-in kiosks, QR posters. Manage the client database with the client LogIn functionality, add notes, client’s favourite services, send confirmations/notifications, newsletters. Launch the loyalty program, further manage bonuses. Enable secured payments. Sell client favourite products online. Propose a waiting list or house/hotel calls (e.g. wedding grooming).
  
• Simple and efficient management of your daily business routine. Barberly web portal is the main management tool for setting your barbershop up and running and making changes needed – add and modify services, barbers, working schedules, start your mobile app or redesign it, set the cancellation policies to get a refund for no-show, activate payments and many more. Also, book your clients on the go with the Barberly business mobile app – a handy way for owners and barbers to manage the appointments.

Being there to support you with prompt customer service, building reliable software, praising customer feedback and building on the criticism are the three pillars that Barberly Team leans on.

“Great appointment app. Was really worried about going to appointments! This appointment app makes it so easy to set up and use. The customer service was great and very patient with me! Well done! Just go for it!!” – Dave S., salon owner

“1947 loves Barberly! I absolutely think this is the best platform on the market. The team and the application itself is amazing! I’ve received nothing but great feedback from our mobile app! This platform is extremely user friendly and the team is super responsive, which makes the overall experience exceptional!” – Terrance M., salon owner

Visit Barberly’s website for more product details, and find out how to become a partner. Follow @BarberlyCom on Instagram and stay tuned for more great features to follow.

The annual event will no longer take place this year, and instead will reconvene next year. Premier Show Group released a statement yesterday, Tuesday 8th September:

“Premiere Orlando is not just an event that happens over a handful of days, it’s a community. It is OUR beauty community. The COVID-19 outbreak has had an unprecedented impact on the beauty industry, and as a result we have come to the decision to reschedule Premiere Orlando to 2021 and take the next steps to ensure a safe and productive return to Orlando. We look forward to seeing you next year on June 5-7, 2021! Those who have purchased a show pass will be eligible for a ticket exchange or a full refund.”

Visit the event website for more details on the event, including show information and travel details.

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.