Editor’s Comment

With the number of salons on our high streets booming, it’s never been more important to create a strong point of difference to attract both clients and skilled staff.

News this month that the number of fIndependent beauty salons in the UK is forecast to grow faster than any other fIndependent sector over the next five years has been met with mixed reactions by the market (see page 13 for more).

While increased consumer demand for treatments has to be a good thing, fast growth also brings challenges, in terms of both competition for already scarce therapist talent and the potential threat to the reputation of the fIndustry posed by new businesses looking to cash in on demand without always investing in the training and professionalism of their more established salon neighbours.

Most savvy salon owners agree that competing on price is only ever a shortterm win, yet it can be very hard to convince clients to pay more than the going rate for treatments that they consider to be purely cosmetic, such as nails and tanning. For this reason, a growing number of spas and serious skincare salons are dfiversifying into aesthetic treatments, which, on the whole, offer higher proit margins.

So, this month we were excited to hear about a new wave of aesthetic devices set to enter the market this year, offering therapists fresh, noninvasfive ways to administer treatments that traditionally require more invasfive methods such as needles or medical lasers.

Find out more in our Professional Beauty London show preview from page 66, where you can also discover new launches and trends from every sector of the market, helping you to set yourself apart in 2019, wherever you choose to specialise.