Where are UK hair and beauty business startups in 2024?

Hair and beauty service providers currently contribute £5.1 billion annually to the UK economy and employ around a quarter of a million people.  

But it hasn’t been an easy ride in recent years, with salons and freelance practitioners facing an onslaught of financial pressures including energy bill hikes, soaring rent costs and the ongoing skills shortage, to name a few. 

Given these many challenges, you might expect entrepreneurial spirit within the hair and beauty industry to have dampened. Conversely, though, our research has found the opposite to be true. 

Whether a freelance barber, a nail bar or waxing salon, our analysis shows that the number of newly formed hair and beauty businesses increased by 7% compared to last year and 19% compared to two years ago; impressive figures given the tough economic climate. 

We analysed Companies House data to find how many new businesses were formed under SIC code 96020 (hairdressing and other beauty treatment) between 1st July 2023 and 30th June 2024. We then compared this to the same period in the two previous years. 

The results were encouraging and highlights how salon businesses have continued to indicate green shoots of post-pandemic recovery. Many experts have even heralded hair and beauty businesses as the “saviours” of the modern British high street.  

The number of hair and beauty startups has increased by 7%

The UK's top 10 hair and beauty startup capitals: ranked

We also investigated where new hair and beauty businesses were being registered over the last 12 months. Unsurprisingly, the UK’s major cities lead the way, with a huge 3,308 new companies formed in London alone.  

However, given the population density of each city, these figures alone do not present an accurate picture when it comes to the most entrepreneurial hair and beauty hotspots of the UK.

So, to break down the data further, we took the number of new hair and beauty businesses formed in every town and city in the UK between 1^st July 2023 – 30^th June 2024.

We divided this number by the population of each location before multiplying by 1,000 to get a final figure of businesses formed per 1,000 residents. This offered a completely different viewpoint.

The UK’s most entrepreneurial hair and beauty towns  

Overall, we know that the face of the British high street is changing. And as the era of large department stores and banks comes to a close, it’s encouraging to see entrepreneurial hair and beauty businesses take their place.  

Of course, the formation of new companies is one thing; their ability to flourish is quite another. Time will therefore tell whether this uptick is sustainable. As it stands, however, the future looks bright.