Press
Press Article - Trade Bodies Clamour to Join CuttheVAT
SalonFocus - January/February 2010
A decision by four more organisations to get on board the CuttheVAT campaign has given the NHF's attempts to get cross-industry support a massive boost.
The involvement of the major industry suppliers, represented by the Hairdressing & Beauty Suppliers Association (HBSA), the Hairdressing Council (HC), which maintains the UK register for qualified hairdressers, the British Association of Beauty Therapy and Cosmetology (Babtac) and the Guild of Beauty Therapists heralds a major breakthrough for the NHF-led campaign to get the rate of VAT for hairdressing, and now for beauty services, too, reduced to 5%.
The HBSA's endorsement sees major industry players, including Wella, Tigi, Schwarzkopf, Sally Hair & Beauty Supplies, Goldwell, Redken and L'Oreal Professional among the thousands of industry businesses with a combined annual revenue of many billions of pounds that are committed to ensuring fair play for the nations' 6,000 hair and beauty salons in Britain that employ 325,000 people, and thousands more freelance operators.
David Macklin, HBSA chief executive said, the trade body had decided to come on board after NHF secretary general Eileen Lawson presented the case for a 5% rate of VAT to the HBSA council.‘The HBSA, as a body, is supportive of the campaign and I am happy to do anything I can do as a liaison between the HBSA and the NHF."
Macklin said he thought it would be a long-term campaign and thought heavy lobbying would be more apt after the General Election but “trying to win support from all the parties is the right way to go for the moment. Keeping the campaign in ministers' sight is important until we know who is in government."
Angela Bartlett, chairman of Babtac, said it was essential for both the hair and beauty industry to unite to show the government the sector had a voice and was prepared to speak out on relevant issues.
"A reduction of VAT to around 5% would allow many smaller businesses to grow and create many more jobs in this sector. It has been shown to be effective in other countires and should be adopted as soon as possible in the UK."
Bartlett said Babtac's beauty and holistic members were crippled by high VAT rates because of the labour-intensive nature of such businesses.
Sally Styles, HC registrar, said: "The Hairdressing Council is happy to support any campaign that will benefit the industry and state-registered hairdressers. If VAT is cut, it will be advantageous to everyone in the hairdressing industry."
Lawson concluded "Surely whoever is in government after the General Election cannot ignore the strength of feeling and logical argument behind the CuttheVAT campaign. We are gradually getting increasing publicity including coverage in the regional as well as the national and trade press. Ministers would do well to listen with the country anticipating going to the polls. VAT for hairdressing salon services is just a direct tax on our sector that comes straight out of the clients' pockets."
The NHF's PR machinery has ensured all major newspapers and magazines have been notified, including the accountancy press, which has given the issue coverage.
Beauty services are not currently among the sectors in which European finance ministers on the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (Ecofin) said last year that member states should have the option to apply reduced VAT.
The NHF plans to promote the inclusion of beauty therapy through the European association of employers' organisations in hairdressing, Coiffure EU.
Press Release -Beauty Sector Joins CuttheVAT
NHF- November2009
UK register for qualified hairdressers, has also declared support for the campaign, coming hard on the heels of hairdressing and beauty manufacturers represented by the UK.”
www.CuttheVAT.org and send the replies they get to NHF head office. This will be invaluable in our fight to get the best possible deal we can for the nation's hairdressers. Please e-mail me at http://www.cutthevat.org/index.php?action=contact_us.
In the meantime, the NHF has called on the government to hold back from hiking VAT back up to 17.5 percent in the New Year, fearing that any increase will stifle potential growth.
Harry Walker said, 'A return to 17.5 percent would be premature when the earliest sights of green shoots were just that - merely signs.'
Press Release - CuttheVAT supporter numbers swell
NHF - October 2009
Another major body has declared its support for the National Hairdressers' Federation (NHF)-led CuttheVat (http://www.cuttheVAT.org) campaign which is lobbying for a reduction in the rate of VAT charged for hairdressing services to 5%.
The Hairdressing Council, which administers the voluntary register of qualified hairdressers on behalf of the government, is the latest body to declare its support.
Its backing comes hard on the heels of the major industry suppliers, represented by the Hairdressing and Beauty Suppliers Association, declaring their support for the campaign.
Others involved are Habia, the government-appointed standards setting body for the hair, beauty, nails and spa sectors, the Fellowship for British Hairdressing and the Freelance Hair & Beauty Federation.
Eileen Lawson, NHF secretary general, said the backing of another two major bodies in the space of as many weeks spoke volumes for the strength of feeling in the industry. "As a labour intensive serviced-based industry, salons lose out big time because they do not make the purchases needed to offset the VAT they pay. The public also lose out because VAT on hairdressing is just a direct tax on hairdressing that comes straight out of clients' pockets."
Sally Styles, Hairdressing Council registrar, said:“The Hairdressing Council is happy to support any campaign that will benefit the industry and state registered hairdressers. If VAT is cut it will be advantageous to everyone in the hairdressing industry."
Press Article - Treasury tells CuttheVAT- "Your Move"
SalonFocus September/October 2009
The CuttheVAT campaign's meeting at the Treasury has helped clarify what the NHF and its partners need to do to progress its arguments for a 5% rate of VAT for hairdressing services in the corridors of power.
Eileen Lawson, NHF secretary general, acknowledged it was"not going to be an easy-win campaign" but it was achievable for the long-term.
"We are going to need the community to help us by providing the data that will allow us to bring together our compulsive argument"
The campaign partners, comprising the NHF, the Fellowship for British Hairdressing, Habia and the Freelance Hair & Beauty Federation would, in the months to come, approach business owners to provide information anonymously about their business and how they thought the significantly reduced VAT percentage could help grow their business as well as save their customers money.
"Wehave to prove a cost neutrality to the Treasury and that there will be consequential benefits to society and employment," Lawson said.
Meanwhile, the Genesis Initiative, a powerful forum of trade bodies that includes the NHF, has agreed to include cutting VAT for hairdressing in a new manifesto for small and medium-sized enterprises to focus politician's minds in the run-up to the General Election.
Andy Love, chairman of the House of Commons all-parliamentary small business group, told Lawson at a recent meeting of the Genesis Senate, which includes the NHF among its members, that he did not realise the European finance ministers on the Economic and Financial Affairs Council had agreed all member states should have the option to apply reduced VAT to labour-intensive industries, including hair salons, on a permanent basis.
He asked Lawson to write to him filling him in on the details of the CuttheVAT campaign.
Have your say on VAT debate
Hairdressers Journal 5-11 June 2009
CuttheVAT campaign led by the National Hairdressers' Federation (NHF) is appealing to all hairdressing business owners, ranging from salon owners to freelancers, to answer four simple questions that have the potential to achieve the coalition's goal of reducing VAT for hairdressing services to 5%.
The campaign needs hairdressing business owners to answer the questions as a matter of urgency so that campaign organisers can present the strongest arguments possible to treasury officials at a meeting on 19 June.
NHF president Harry Walker; secretary general Eileen Lawson; habia deputy chief executive Andrew Darby; Fellowship for British Hairdressing chairman Frank Shipton; and Freelance Hair and Beauty Federation director Sheilah Abrahams will represent the industry and explain to the treasury officials how a 5% VAT reate would benefit the final consumer without running contrary to treasury or government policy objectives.
Press Article - Members plead 'lower our VAT'
SalonFocus January-February 2009
Members have called on the government to lower the rate of VAT that registered salons must add to their charges and pay Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs (HMRC) beyond the across-the-board 2.5% cut announced in the pre-Budget report.
Several e-mailed SalonFocus after NHF president Harry Walker asked members to contact him to let him know if they preferred lower rates of VAT coupled with a lower registration threshold, or VAT rates kept as they are but with a higher registration threshold
The overwhelming majority preferred the first option and Walker has now written to Alistair Darling, chancellor of the exchequer, George Osborne, shadow chancellor and Vince Cable, the Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman to report the findings to date. Richard Allen, from Canterbury, in Kent, congratulated SalonFocus for campaigning on the issue. "At last someone appears to be doing something to help us legal hairdressers struggling to pay VAT, and not using loopholes to avoid paying." Clare Smith, who owns The Colour Room, in Stockport, Cheshire, wrote: "Manufacturing companies are able to claim more VAT. We, as a service industry, where people are our main resource, cannot reclaim materials back. What we need is a reduction in the level of VAT." Walker's latest letter to Darling urges him to reconsider his position. "A change in the VAT regime for our members could make all the difference between sink and swim in these difficult times," he wrote.
The British government has room for manoeuvre because European Commission president Jose Manuel Durao Barroso announced a Small Business Act for Europe, in the summer, which included a proposal to offer member states an option to apply reduced VAT rates for locally supplied services, including labour-intensive sectors such as hairdressing.
But the Treasury said that"other measures would be more effective and efficient means of stimulating employment and supporting small businesses in the UK" (SalonFocus November-December 2008).
SalonFocus - January/February 2010
A decision by four more organisations to get on board the CuttheVAT campaign has given the NHF's attempts to get cross-industry support a massive boost.
The involvement of the major industry suppliers, represented by the Hairdressing & Beauty Suppliers Association (HBSA), the Hairdressing Council (HC), which maintains the UK register for qualified hairdressers, the British Association of Beauty Therapy and Cosmetology (Babtac) and the Guild of Beauty Therapists heralds a major breakthrough for the NHF-led campaign to get the rate of VAT for hairdressing, and now for beauty services, too, reduced to 5%.
The HBSA's endorsement sees major industry players, including Wella, Tigi, Schwarzkopf, Sally Hair & Beauty Supplies, Goldwell, Redken and L'Oreal Professional among the thousands of industry businesses with a combined annual revenue of many billions of pounds that are committed to ensuring fair play for the nations' 6,000 hair and beauty salons in Britain that employ 325,000 people, and thousands more freelance operators.
David Macklin, HBSA chief executive said, the trade body had decided to come on board after NHF secretary general Eileen Lawson presented the case for a 5% rate of VAT to the HBSA council.‘The HBSA, as a body, is supportive of the campaign and I am happy to do anything I can do as a liaison between the HBSA and the NHF."
Macklin said he thought it would be a long-term campaign and thought heavy lobbying would be more apt after the General Election but “trying to win support from all the parties is the right way to go for the moment. Keeping the campaign in ministers' sight is important until we know who is in government."
Angela Bartlett, chairman of Babtac, said it was essential for both the hair and beauty industry to unite to show the government the sector had a voice and was prepared to speak out on relevant issues.
"A reduction of VAT to around 5% would allow many smaller businesses to grow and create many more jobs in this sector. It has been shown to be effective in other countires and should be adopted as soon as possible in the UK."
Bartlett said Babtac's beauty and holistic members were crippled by high VAT rates because of the labour-intensive nature of such businesses.
Sally Styles, HC registrar, said: "The Hairdressing Council is happy to support any campaign that will benefit the industry and state-registered hairdressers. If VAT is cut, it will be advantageous to everyone in the hairdressing industry."
Lawson concluded "Surely whoever is in government after the General Election cannot ignore the strength of feeling and logical argument behind the CuttheVAT campaign. We are gradually getting increasing publicity including coverage in the regional as well as the national and trade press. Ministers would do well to listen with the country anticipating going to the polls. VAT for hairdressing salon services is just a direct tax on our sector that comes straight out of the clients' pockets."
The NHF's PR machinery has ensured all major newspapers and magazines have been notified, including the accountancy press, which has given the issue coverage.
Beauty services are not currently among the sectors in which European finance ministers on the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (Ecofin) said last year that member states should have the option to apply reduced VAT.
The NHF plans to promote the inclusion of beauty therapy through the European association of employers' organisations in hairdressing, Coiffure EU.
Press Release -Beauty Sector Joins CuttheVAT
NHF- November2009
UK register for qualified hairdressers, has also declared support for the campaign, coming hard on the heels of hairdressing and beauty manufacturers represented by the UK.”
www.CuttheVAT.org and send the replies they get to NHF head office. This will be invaluable in our fight to get the best possible deal we can for the nation's hairdressers. Please e-mail me at http://www.cutthevat.org/index.php?action=contact_us.
In the meantime, the NHF has called on the government to hold back from hiking VAT back up to 17.5 percent in the New Year, fearing that any increase will stifle potential growth.
Harry Walker said, 'A return to 17.5 percent would be premature when the earliest sights of green shoots were just that - merely signs.'
Press Release - CuttheVAT supporter numbers swell
NHF - October 2009
Another major body has declared its support for the National Hairdressers' Federation (NHF)-led CuttheVat (http://www.cuttheVAT.org) campaign which is lobbying for a reduction in the rate of VAT charged for hairdressing services to 5%.
The Hairdressing Council, which administers the voluntary register of qualified hairdressers on behalf of the government, is the latest body to declare its support.
Its backing comes hard on the heels of the major industry suppliers, represented by the Hairdressing and Beauty Suppliers Association, declaring their support for the campaign.
Others involved are Habia, the government-appointed standards setting body for the hair, beauty, nails and spa sectors, the Fellowship for British Hairdressing and the Freelance Hair & Beauty Federation.
Eileen Lawson, NHF secretary general, said the backing of another two major bodies in the space of as many weeks spoke volumes for the strength of feeling in the industry. "As a labour intensive serviced-based industry, salons lose out big time because they do not make the purchases needed to offset the VAT they pay. The public also lose out because VAT on hairdressing is just a direct tax on hairdressing that comes straight out of clients' pockets."
Sally Styles, Hairdressing Council registrar, said:“The Hairdressing Council is happy to support any campaign that will benefit the industry and state registered hairdressers. If VAT is cut it will be advantageous to everyone in the hairdressing industry."
Press Article - Treasury tells CuttheVAT- "Your Move"
SalonFocus September/October 2009
The CuttheVAT campaign's meeting at the Treasury has helped clarify what the NHF and its partners need to do to progress its arguments for a 5% rate of VAT for hairdressing services in the corridors of power.
Eileen Lawson, NHF secretary general, acknowledged it was"not going to be an easy-win campaign" but it was achievable for the long-term.
"We are going to need the community to help us by providing the data that will allow us to bring together our compulsive argument"
The campaign partners, comprising the NHF, the Fellowship for British Hairdressing, Habia and the Freelance Hair & Beauty Federation would, in the months to come, approach business owners to provide information anonymously about their business and how they thought the significantly reduced VAT percentage could help grow their business as well as save their customers money.
"Wehave to prove a cost neutrality to the Treasury and that there will be consequential benefits to society and employment," Lawson said.
Meanwhile, the Genesis Initiative, a powerful forum of trade bodies that includes the NHF, has agreed to include cutting VAT for hairdressing in a new manifesto for small and medium-sized enterprises to focus politician's minds in the run-up to the General Election.
Andy Love, chairman of the House of Commons all-parliamentary small business group, told Lawson at a recent meeting of the Genesis Senate, which includes the NHF among its members, that he did not realise the European finance ministers on the Economic and Financial Affairs Council had agreed all member states should have the option to apply reduced VAT to labour-intensive industries, including hair salons, on a permanent basis.
He asked Lawson to write to him filling him in on the details of the CuttheVAT campaign.
Have your say on VAT debate
Hairdressers Journal 5-11 June 2009
CuttheVAT campaign led by the National Hairdressers' Federation (NHF) is appealing to all hairdressing business owners, ranging from salon owners to freelancers, to answer four simple questions that have the potential to achieve the coalition's goal of reducing VAT for hairdressing services to 5%.
The campaign needs hairdressing business owners to answer the questions as a matter of urgency so that campaign organisers can present the strongest arguments possible to treasury officials at a meeting on 19 June.
NHF president Harry Walker; secretary general Eileen Lawson; habia deputy chief executive Andrew Darby; Fellowship for British Hairdressing chairman Frank Shipton; and Freelance Hair and Beauty Federation director Sheilah Abrahams will represent the industry and explain to the treasury officials how a 5% VAT reate would benefit the final consumer without running contrary to treasury or government policy objectives.
Press Article - Members plead 'lower our VAT'
SalonFocus January-February 2009
Members have called on the government to lower the rate of VAT that registered salons must add to their charges and pay Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs (HMRC) beyond the across-the-board 2.5% cut announced in the pre-Budget report.
Several e-mailed SalonFocus after NHF president Harry Walker asked members to contact him to let him know if they preferred lower rates of VAT coupled with a lower registration threshold, or VAT rates kept as they are but with a higher registration threshold
The overwhelming majority preferred the first option and Walker has now written to Alistair Darling, chancellor of the exchequer, George Osborne, shadow chancellor and Vince Cable, the Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman to report the findings to date. Richard Allen, from Canterbury, in Kent, congratulated SalonFocus for campaigning on the issue. "At last someone appears to be doing something to help us legal hairdressers struggling to pay VAT, and not using loopholes to avoid paying." Clare Smith, who owns The Colour Room, in Stockport, Cheshire, wrote: "Manufacturing companies are able to claim more VAT. We, as a service industry, where people are our main resource, cannot reclaim materials back. What we need is a reduction in the level of VAT." Walker's latest letter to Darling urges him to reconsider his position. "A change in the VAT regime for our members could make all the difference between sink and swim in these difficult times," he wrote.
The British government has room for manoeuvre because European Commission president Jose Manuel Durao Barroso announced a Small Business Act for Europe, in the summer, which included a proposal to offer member states an option to apply reduced VAT rates for locally supplied services, including labour-intensive sectors such as hairdressing.
But the Treasury said that"other measures would be more effective and efficient means of stimulating employment and supporting small businesses in the UK" (SalonFocus November-December 2008).
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