Andrew barton - time for hairdressers to get registered
It's time for hairdressers to take the professional approach and get registered, Andrew Barton told guests at the Fellowship Luncheon and Awards. Here are Andrew's strong views about state registration and the hairdressing industry.
"I'm sure you'll have seen and heard much about hairdressing regulation this week, there's been a media storm on radio, TV and in the national newspapers and it continues, now it looks like The One Show are getting in on the act...
"I think it is safe to say that our moment to respond in the right way really is now!
"As an industry there is a corporate flinch of pain when we hear the latest story about horrendous reactions, chemical burns, acute allergies etc.
"With a population that is increasingly litigious and with a higher number of allergic reactions, asthma attacks and death through anaphylactic shock we are a law-suit waiting to happen.
"Professional reputations are destroyed in the aftermath of unprotected hairdressing and I feel so strongly that as hairdressing businesses and professionals we have to do all we can to move to a point where we work within a recognised, regulated professional body.
"It protects us, our clients and our industry reputation. Every one of us recognises that British hairdressing is world famous, and we are proud of that fact.
"Our creativity is second to none, but did you know that we're one of the only countries in Europe to be unregulated with just a voluntary system of registration rather than a mandatory one that the Hairdressing Council is promoting?
"I think we need to pull together to make sure that British hairdressing stays world famous for all the right reasons.
"As Hairdressing Council's Ambassador my plan is to keep this story alive and to give it momentum in the press and consequently the public domain. For hairdressing to become regulated we need an Act of Parliament, for the act to be tabled and passed it needs to have a ground-swell of support.
"Take fox hunting, that was tabled on the same day as the Regulation of British Hairdressing - through media pressure which gained public interest, the Fox Hunting issue become the one that politicians could no longer ignore.
"The fox hunting bill was heard and hairdressing slipped into the background. So now we can't kill foxes but some salons with poor procedures can almost kill their clients - it's just bonkers and I'm going to give it my all this year to get this changed.
"So what can we do? We register ourselves and our teams and we act to move voluntary registration from the meagre 10% of hairdressers currently registered to 70% of the industry, once we've registered in our numbers, then we will have a voice worth listening to in parliament and registration will become mandatory - It's a bit like hairdressing suffragettes!
"I have just opened my own salon and am paying the £34 registration fee for each member of my team. BBC radio 2's Jeremy Vine was majoring on the membership costs being passed onto the client - we're talking about one more cut and blow dry a year for each member of the team!
"I have no doubt that it's a very small price to pay to give the message of security to my clients and the message to my team that I care about the reputation of the industry.
"It's the headlines of the latest £20,000 law suit splashed across The Sun that knocks public faith in hairdressers and hairdressing and regulation will see the end of shoddy salons with slack health and safety and to my mind that can't come soon enough."