1.1 Definition and presentation

A beauty salon is legally defined as a business offering to its customers aesthetic treatments other than medical and paramedical as well as aesthetic massages without medical purpose. [Article 16-1 of the law of July 5, 1996]

Beauty salons are operators who provide aesthetic treatments including body care, facials, beauty treatments, hair removal and other more specific treatments (UV tanning, pulsed light). They can be generalists or specialized in one treatment.

Salons compete with perfumeries, fitness and thalassotherapy institutes, SPAs and massage salons.

The UK beauty salon market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 1.6% between 2014 and 2019. The success of beauty salons relies on the health of the economy; more favorable economic conditions increase consumer spending. Indeed, they are price sensitive; Ibisworld reports that 78% of UK operators believe savings are the most important loyalty factor

As of 2017, there were more than 40,000 registered businesses, making this a highly fragmented market.[Beautiful Britain Report]

1.2 The global market

The global beauty salons and spas market was estimated at $***.** billion in ****. Due to the Covid-** outbreak and restrictive travel measures, industry revenue declined by *% in ****.

However, recovery is expected to take place as early as **** at a slower pace than forecasted prior to the Covid-** crisis. Indeed, on a global ...

1.3 The UK market

Beauty salon business in United Kingdom belong to the Hairdressing and beauty salons sector. If we look at the total turnover since ****, we observe that the sector is growing. However, in the beauty salon segment, a UK parliamentary report states that turnover levels were significantly lower in **** than in **** with two-thirds ...

1.4 The impact of the health crisis

The beauty salon sector has been particularly affected by the health crisis, with more than *** days of closure in ****, resulting in an average loss of **% of turnover, up to -**% in some regions.

The end of lockdown has nevertheless limited the reopening activity of beauty salons by restricting occupancy to **%. This ...

2.1 British spending on beauty

The Office for National Statistics allows us to observe the average weekly spending of British households on beauty. Thus, we note that hairdressing and beauty care represented an expenditure roughly equivalent to that of hair and cosmetic products over the year ****-****, before the beginning of the health crisis. The hypothesis ...

2.2 A demand influenced by the health crisis

The British demand for beauty salons has been largely curbed by the health crisis. It is possible to observe the different reasons why clients have cancelled their appointments in their beauty salons. The most common reasons are the reduction of expenses, the absence of events offering opportunities to perform beauty treatments, ...

3.1 Market structure

The number of beauty salons is steadily growing with an increase of **.*% since ****. Number of beauty salons in the United Kingdom United Kingdom, ****-****, in units Source: ****

The beauty sector employed ***,*** people from January to March ****, up from ***,*** the previous year. The sector is characterized by a strong female presence. In ...

3.2 Geographical distribution of the activity

The following map represents the number of beauty salons or hairdressers per thousand inhabitants. It can be seen that, with the exception of London, the South of the United Kingdom concentrates fewer establishments than the North of the country with a minimum of *.** salons per thousand people in the South West ...

4.1 Services offered

In general, the services offered by beauty salons are distinguished between facials, body treatments, hair removal for women, hair removal for men and finally beauty. There are also institutes that specialize in hair removal or manicure.

Beauty salons offer several services in each category, including the following

Facial care The average ...

4.2 Price overview

The price offered for the same service by the institutes varies considerably depending on the duration of the treatment, but also between institutes.

In addition, the subscription system of the clients also makes the prices vary; the prices are higher (***) for non-subscribing clients. Below is an overview of beauty salon prices ...

5.1 UK legislation governing beauty salons and the guidelines to follow

The opening of a beauty salon in the UK is necessarily preceded by obtaining a license from the local authorities adapted to the services offered by the establishment. The British government has made available a tool to navigate these licenses.

Then, in addition to the need to ensure the establishment and ...