Владелец парикмахерских в Великобритании призывает снизить НДС, предупреждая о крахе отрасли

Основатель сети Contour Hair Salon Ральф Боу заявил, что высокие налоги и отсутствие льгот для сотрудников вынуждают салоны отказываться от найма и обучения молодежи. Предприниматель настаивает на снижении ставки НДС до 10%, чтобы сохранить бизнес и предотвратить исчезновение тысяч мест работы в секторе красоты.

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The past four years, business has been shaky at best for Ralph Bowe. The founder of Contour Hair Salon, the 68-year-old can’t help but feel like time is running out to save the industry he loves. “Over the last three, four years, our turnover has been flat really,” he told the M.E.N. “At the moment, all we are is tax collectors. Sixty per cent of my turnover is labour costs. "There’s nothing left for me at the end of it. I’m not looking for a way out, but without me my businesses will close. “There’s no incentives for my staff to take over a business that’s not profitable.” Click here to get the biggest stories straight to your inbox in our Daily Newsletter Ralph is among the army of business owners in the hospitality sector calling for a reduction VAT. He told the M.E.N that the hair and beauty sector is now functioning in a ‘two-tiered’ system that is handicapping businesses like his. According to Ralph, the financial insecurity caused by the current VAT rate has led to salons switching to self-employed worker business models to avoid paying high taxes. “We’re at a competitive disadvantage because we have to charge our clients 20pc extra because we're VAT registered salons,” explained Ralph. “We’re doing the right thing by employing people and charging people the VAT. People are worried about the cost of living, so they will shop around a little bit. “The main focus for employed salons like myself is a reduction in VAT to 10pc.” The knock-on effect has left places like Ralph’s too poor to hire and train new staff. A CBI Economics report commissioned by the British Hair Consortium revealed the hair and beauty sector has seen the number of apprentices in the industry go from 16,000 in 2016 to 6,000 in 2023. The report warns that by 2027 that number could be 0. For Ralph, this is already a reality at the two salons he runs in Leigh and Bury. Ralph told the M.E.N: “I haven’t got the money to have an apprentice and I haven’t had one for three years in each salon. “There’s no money left for me to employ an apprentice. “That’s a cost to the country because we’re not training our young people. This is another consequence of what’s going on.” A member of the Salon Employers Association, Ralph has been vying for the attention of any politician who will listen about his plight. On top of his day-to-day he has dedicated hours to reaching out to the offices of local MPs. In a message seen by the M.E.N, education secretary, Lucy Powell, has responded to Ralph by voicing her concerns about the ‘the barriers in hiring apprentices and young people’ and told the hair stylist that she has written to the treasury issues blighting the hair industry. This added with the ‘right noises’ that Andy Burnham has made regarding reprieve for the hospitality sector has given Ralph some optimism, but he’s aware there’s still a long way to go. “I’m not a political animal really,” he told the M.E.N “I just believe in people who believe in the high street. “Burnham is making the right noises and said he will look at levelling the playing field. “It’s encouraging but now it’s not a priority with all the other things that are going on. “Generally, we need more support, we’re businesses that improve the turnover of the high street. You can’t get your haircut online.”