The British Beauty Council has urged Prime Minister Andy Burnham to extend business rates relief to hair and beauty salons rather than reserving it for pubs. Millie Kendall, the council's chief executive, said ignoring beauty businesses would be "a mistake."
The council's ambassadors include Charlotte Tilbury, Kate Moss and Trinny Woodall. Kendall said her members, who range from small nail salons to beauty giants such as Sephora, are often dismissed as "discretionary, even frivolous" despite being powerhouse employers and contributors to growth.
Burnham said last month he would cut business rates by 20 per cent for hospitality firms next year, saving pubs an average of £1,100. The £100million policy would be funded by slashing reliefs for gambling arcades and vape shops, which he said "don't add much to community life." The move has angered other High Street businesses, which are also facing steep increases in wages, National Insurance contributions and energy bills.
Not a plea for subsidy
Writing for The Mail and This is Money, Kendall said the request to be included in the relief is "not a plea for subsidy" but "a case for economic common sense." She said Labour must ensure retail services are fully included in business rates support, protect businesses from steep property tax increases and create a fairer competitive environment between physical retailers and online marketplaces that operate under fundamentally different cost structures.
"A haircut cannot be delivered by courier," Kendall wrote. She said every appointment depends on skilled professionals working from fixed premises that need specialist plumbing, treatment rooms and equipment, while revenue is confined by physical space even as property costs keep rising.
Salons leaving the high street
Kendall said growing numbers of salon workers are giving up their premises to work from home or travel to clients' houses, "not because they want to abandon the high street, but because the economics no longer stack up." This is reducing footfall to town centres, she said, "all while consumer spending remains subdued."
"Salons are not just businesses in their own right, they are anchors for local economies. When they close, the consequences ripple far beyond the beauty industry," she said. A salon visit often means using public transport or paying for parking, buying lunch, stopping for coffee or browsing neighbouring shops, she added.
A £28.3billion industry
According to the council's latest Value of Beauty report, produced with Oxford Economics, the beauty and personal care sector contributed £28.3billion to the UK economy in 2025, more than the combined film, TV and music industries. The sector supports around 600,000 jobs, a large majority of them women and half aged 18 to 34, employment figures Kendall said are on par with the construction industry.
She said the industry contributed enough in direct tax revenues in 2025 to fund the salaries of 110,000 nurse practitioners. But employment in the sector has fallen by 2.8 per cent, which Kendall called a stark indication of how two consecutive budgets and geopolitical unrest can affect an industry reliant on consumer confidence.
'Toughest it's ever been'
Earlier this year, salon owners warned that the sector was the "toughest it's ever been" because of rising employment costs following Labour's tax raids. They also said the industry's traditional role of offering young people their first jobs, sweeping up hair or training as apprentices, was in peril.
Kendall said there are more than 196,000 beauty facilities across Britain's towns and villages, meaning beauty outnumbers pubs across all types of high streets, including urban and suburban areas. Pubs and music venues, she noted, have benefited from consistent VAT and rate relief since the Covid pandemic.
Kendall said Burnham's government must consider salons and beauty businesses as a vehicle for growth. "They simply cannot afford to overlook one of the few sectors capable of delivering it," she said.
