The National Hair & Beauty Federation (NHBF) has published findings from ‘Hair, beauty and the pandemic: An industry at the sharp end. The impact of coronavirus on business vulnerability and the potential for mitigating measures.’ Commissioned by the NHBF from independent analysts Pragmatix Advisory, the report details the current situation of the industry. Some of the key findings are as follows:
• More than 10% of the sector has already closed its doors for good since the pandemic
• 60% of businesses have no cash reserves (up from 27 per cent in 2019)
• The average business has lost 45% of 2019 turnover (up to 59 % in some areas)
• Even when open, social distancing restrictions mean salon capacity is down to 70%
• 1 in 8 business owners have already made redundancies as a result of the pandemic
• More than half have been forced to cut staff hours in order to save costs.