They are not the type to contact their MP. They’re too busy running their businesses, looking after kids, training staff, and keeping the lights on. But in recent months, a steady stream of women — salon owners, nursery managers, after-school club operators — have been doing something they’ve never done before: writing to me as their local MP in desperation.
The reason? Labour’s October budget. It may have been wrapped in rhetoric about responsibility and long-term growth, but that budget’s real-world consequences are being felt far from the corridors of Westminster. In towns and suburbs across the country, it’s quietly devastating some of Britain’s most people-powered sectors, including the hair and beauty industry.
It is for these small business owners that I have tabled a debate in parliament this week on the challenges that industry is up against — and the risks to us all if they go under.
High street salons are where thousands of women build careers, where young people learn skills, and where communities stay connected. They are economic engines that offer the kinds of flexible, vocational opportunities that the government claims to support. And yet, Labour’s budget is hitting these businesses with a range of punishing — and potentially lethal — tax rises.
The sector has already endured a tough few years. Post-Covid debt, rising rents, and regulatory burdens had salons hanging on by a thread. But this budget could be the final cut.
The withdrawal of business rate relief has been catastrophic. One barber in Upminster has seen their rates bill jump from zero to £2,000 overnight. A salon in Hornchurch now has to front over £18000 in rates, up from £7,500. These are “keep you up at night” bills for small business owners who act as the backbone of their high streets.
And that’s just one pressure point. Rises in Employer National Insurance Contributions are hammering businesses that hire part-time, lower-wage workers — disproportionately affecting the hair and beauty sector. Over 80% of that sector’s workforce are women. Nearly 1 in 3 are under 30.
It is a similar story in early years childcare. One reported to me an annual NICs bill jump from £10,851 to £26,040, while one business running nurseries across Havering is shouldering £30,000 in extra payroll costs each month. So the childcare support network that keeps many women in work also risks being kicked away.
What’s most galling is that the businesses being punished are the ones doing everything right. They employ people on proper contracts, pay their taxes, train apprentices, and maintain premises. But the system actively penalises them.
VAT rules are a major culprit in the hair and beauty sector. Salons that employ staff and operate from premises pay full VAT on their services, while mobile and home-based businesses — often using self-employed workers — avoid much of it. The result? A wildly uneven playing field that incentivises a slide into the grey economy.
This isn’t just a tax issue — it’s a cultural and social problem. Salons are shedding apprentices they can no longer afford. One Hornchurch salon, a community staple since the 1970s, used to train four. Now they can manage only one. And the story is the same in other parts of the country and in other apprenticeship-heavy sectors like construction: once-thriving skills pipelines are collapsing. For many young people — especially white working-class girls and boys, who are now among the most disadvantaged groups — these have traditionally been some of the most accessible pathways into skilled, well-paid work as hairdressers and builders.
Now, those doors are slamming shut.
But there’s another, darker risk to potential closures. When legitimate salons vanish, they don’t leave a vacuum. They leave retail space that’s being snapped up by operators who don’t play by the rules — dodgy nail bars, barbershops and vape stores that are fronts for tax evasion, exploitation, or worse.
Nationwide, police forces are raising red flags about links between these kinds of businesses and organised crime. It’s not just lost tax revenue — it’s a threat to community safety and integrity.
The Federation of Small Businesses notes that 82% of high street foot traffic is linked to personal care businesses like salons. When they go, the rest of the high street struggles too. The café next door, the boutique across the street — they all suffer when the steady stream of loyal, local clients disappears.
This budget is not just bad economics. It’s fundamentally at odds with the values Labour claims to champion: opportunity, fairness, and community. It punishes female entrepreneurs, dismantles routes into work for young people, and hollows out high streets.
And instead of boosting tax receipts, this approach could shrink them. The National Hair & Beauty Federation predicts the sector’s tax contribution will fall by 4% — the opposite of what the Treasury intended. This will continue to pile on the losses, with the British Hair Consortium reporting that the Treasury has already lost £2.4bn in VAT receipts since 2009 due to pressures on the sector.
There are solutions — simple, actionable changes that could keep these vital businesses alive. VAT reform for labour-intensive services. Restored business rate relief. Better use of unspent apprenticeship levy funds to support training. And a serious rethink of the October budget’s damaging tax rises.
Labour needs to decide what kind of economy it wants to build. One driven by real people in real communities — or one where only those who can game the system survive.
Because if nothing changes, it won’t just be salons shutting up shop. It’ll be hope, opportunity, and trust in our political system — all disappearing from our high streets.
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