Mandatory Registration for Hairdressing and Barbering is SO Close!

After years of groundwork, petitioning and relationship building, Mike Taylor of Mike Taylor Education believes that mandatory registration for hairdressing and barbering businesses is within reach.

What’s happening and when?

On Monday 14th September Vikki Slade MP is scheduled to present the Barbers and Hairdressers (Registration) Bill calling for the compulsory registration of barbers and hairdressings in England, Scotland and Wales. While it’s a significant start there is no confirmation yet, that licensing will become law and progress will depend heavily on parliamentary time, cross-party backing and ultimately government support. As a Private Member’s Bill, the presentation is a formal First Reading without a debate or vote on the policy. The Bill’s wording and Second Reading date should follow.

How can barbers and hairdressers support this bill?

• BEFORE 14th SEPTEMBER – Ask supporting MPs to contact Vikki’s office (slade.mp@parliament.uk) and publicly endorse the Bill.
• Attend and support its Second Reading once
• Prepare to be compliant with records of qualifications OR verified competence of all staff, insurance status, hygiene standards evidence, evidence of legal employment for

Why is Compulsory Registration important?

While no Bill can ensure that every business will be happy about the terms of registration, it will ensure that a minimum standard will be adhered to. Adding professional registration to the hairdressing and barbering industry will ultimately elevate the sector, protect the public from poor standards and enable business owners to achieve a fair living, earned against a more level playing field. Registration will also help to eliminate rogue traders and make illegal businesses even more visible and exposed to prosecution.

As the original founder of The Barber Council and a barber and business owner of 12 barbershops, 1 salon and 2 Academies, Mike Taylor has been a vocal advocate for mandatory registration. Mike says “It’s been a long campaign to get this far and this breakthrough has largely been due to building a relationship with our awesome local MP Vikki Slade. I shared the challenges and risks that both hair professionals and the public face due to a lack of any real scrutiny and Vikki gave me the opportunity to speak with MP’s at the Houses of Parliament. I invited Gareth Penn who is the current Registrar of the Hair and Barber Council to join me. The Hair and Barber Council is the only statutory authority recognised by Parliament and they too have lobbied for many years for mandatory registration, so Gareth’s involvement has been pivotal.”

Mike felt that the MP’s he spoke to really understood that hairdressing and barbering was the beating heart of the High Street, offering services worth billions to GDP and legitimately employing over 178,000 people* but also giving communities much needed supportive hubs. Protecting the employees, business owners and customers is important to the future of the sector.

Mike says “Registration should protect the public and legitimate businesses through verified competence, insurance and hygiene—not become another voluntary badge that rogue operators can ignore.”

*NHBF

Mike is available for interview and comment on the subjects of Registration and illegal businesses including recent comments from Prime Minister Andy Burnham.