The general cosmetic industry in the UK is a bigger deal than you might actually know. With annual revenue of over £4 billion, it maintains its potency as one of the most important arms of personal care businesses. Being entirely consumer facing, there are obvious struggles associated with the industry.
Despite these, the industry has managed to grow steadily at nearly 1.5 percent each year, over the last four years. This rate is just a few points above the average annual growth rate of the national economy. According to reports, the number of independent salon, spa and beauty businesses in the UK has also shown similar growth numbers.
As things stood in 2018, 34,000 to 42,000 businesses can be counted as a part of this industry, and most of these businesses are small to medium sized, with 70 percent employing fewer than 10 people. The UK beauty industry employs over 150,000 people.
One of the most interesting things in this regard is that the beauty services industry in the UK is largely localised and fragmented, with no major national players. The 3 largest UK beauty businesses have a combined market share of less than 3 percent. This is an extremely promising sign for franchisees who want to run a local beauty franchise.
Cosmetic franchises are service providers. And although it is true that many businesses also include products as a part of their offerings to diversify revenue streams, it can’t be denied that the performance of the ‘services’ is the most crucial factor in this context. Therefore, to properly understand how these franchises work, it is necessary to understand how a service-based franchise works.
When it comes to discussing cosmetic franchises in the UK, it is critical to note how the changing social norms have contributed to the growth. The most interesting sign is the annual spending – UK adults now spend over £6 billion annually on beauty treatments, hair care and other spa services. Much of this surge can be assigned to the penetration of the industry into demographics that would – not too long ago – have been considered off the table.
Even though the cosmetic is regarded a service-based market, the location is enormously important for franchises in the industry. On this front, these franchises resemble fast-food franchises – the more the foot traffic, the better the performance.
Therefore, it is imperative for you to explore, assess and compare various locations and territories before you buy a franchise. Your territory should have a large enough concentration of the target demographic to sustain your business, and your location should be convenient enough for them to visit.
If you are trained and possess the necessary licences, you can buy a cosmetic franchise and run the business right from your home. Nonetheless, here are some of the popular beauty and hair salon franchises in the UK.
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Cash Converters International
This is a franchise retail network listed on the ASX. They are a company that specializes in the sale of second hand goods. They adhere to high ethical standards and employ modern retailing practices and professional management techniques.
Through this approach, this company have been able to position their stores as credible merchandise stores which have generated huge profits for the group. All stores offer a range of services ranging from pawn-broking loans and personal finance in selected markets in the micro lending sector.
Cost
- Franchise Investment: £100,000
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Mooeys Franchise Ltd
Mooeys is a unique and exciting beauty salon business, with two company-owned salons in Farnham and Horsham and its first franchise that opened in Haslemere, Surrey in 2019. The franchise offers high-quality beauty treatments in unique surroundings with good, old-fashioned service.
A properly trained and qualified beauty therapist with many years’ experience in all aspects of the beauty industry, Amy Lewis initially set up Mooeys in 2013 around her favourite treatments: nails and waxing. From her time working on cruise ships and managing beauty spas and salons, she found that these treatments were also the most popular, yet lacked consistency from one therapist to another.
Note that each Mooeys salon is designed as a safe place for all clients to feel comfortable and have some time to themselves – the perfect non-judgemental space for all to enjoy while receiving exceptional beauty treatments, which are consistent no matter the therapist and offers great value for money.
Cost
- Franchise Investment: $55,000
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Spa810
Spa810 (pronounced spa eight-ten) provides a selection of carefully curated aesthetic and non-invasive medical treatments. The brand offers body sculpting, advanced facials, laser hair removal and a variety of massages, all given by a highly trained and qualified team of aesthetic therapists.
Spa810 provides female and male customers with best-in-class treatments and an elevated experience in a convenient retail location. Massages, facials and skincare treatments are offered using market-leading, FDA approved technologies administered by professionals. Included in spa810’s suite of medical technologies are state-of-the-art lasers for hair removal and non-surgical fat reduction equipment.
Cost
- Franchise Investment: £45,000 + VAT + working capital + unit fit-out
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M Room®
M Room® was established in 2008 in Finland by two of the world’s best barbers. It has expanded through franchising and offers its customers a high-quality grooming experience, combined with a unique membership model, high-quality products and modern customer experience.
M Room® offers yearly memberships, which include barbering services, added benefits and free extra products. M Room’s service offers include haircuts, shaves, colouring and special treatments – which when combined create a unique barbering experience.
Cost
- Franchise Investment: £200,000+
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Tan & Deliver
A Tan & Deliver franchisee delivers premium home hire sunbeds to customers within their territory. The equipment is compliant with EU standards and carefully maintained by in-house sunbed engineers to ensure every sunbed delivered is in perfect working order.
Tan & Deliver franchisees follow the company’s proven business formula and benefit from ongoing marketing and personal guidance. New business owners are supplied with target markets and tried and tested systems and strategies to improve productivity and increase sales.
Cost
- Franchise Investment: £100,000
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Ooh La La Beauty Bar
Headed by the successful entrepreneur Elizabeth, the blowout + beauty brow bar category, has been developed to meet the growing demand for the best level of hair styling on the go. Ooh La La Beauty Bar is a high margin, high return business that is easily scalable, alongside with the multiple revenue streams which can be appealing to applicants with no experience required. This concept is a category leader, simple model, and no hair experience needed.
Cost
- Franchise Investment: £58,000
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CoLaz
CoLaz was founded in April 2005 out of its holding company M G Beauty Ltd. The initial phase saw the sale of a range of beauty and hair brands. Coupled with this, the founder Manroop Ahitan developed the methodologies the Co Laz franchises use and built the brand identity. The salons now provide beauty treatments, skin care, complimentary therapies, and hair removal.
In 2013, the founder Manroop Ahitan and fellow shareholder Surinder Ahitan fully incorporated the trademark company and set up the franchising structures. This gave rise to the entity CoLaz Franchising Ltd. There are currently eight franchisees / partner salons in the UK. The first salon to open was in Southall in London.
Cost
- Franchise Investment: £120,000 – £ 150,000
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Sola Salon Studios
This company offers salon professionals the freedom and benefit of high-quality salon ownership without the upfront costs and risks associated with opening a traditional salon. Its innovative salon model empowers hairdressers, aestheticians, nail techs, massage therapists, barbers and other like-minded professionals to take control of their lives and their careers.
Sola® Salon Studios provides beauty professionals with high-end, fully-equipped salon studios alongside the support and tools they need to launch their salon business in no time. At its core, Sola® Salon Studios believes in the beauty professional and has one goal in mind – to help set them up for success.
Cost
- Franchise Investment: £1,000,000
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Harley Street Skin Clinic
Harley Street Skin has announced news of its dynamic new franchise operation designed to roll out its prestigious brand whilst establishing a ‘best in class’ aesthetics community nationwide. Founded in 2006, Harley Street Skin Clinic has been established at no. 48 Harley Street since 2010, co-founded by skin and aesthetics power duo Dr. Aamer Khan and his wife Lesley Reynolds.
Cost
- Franchise Investment: £125,000 – £ 249,000
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Relooking
Relooking is a French beauty treatment franchise, specialising in a variety of cosmetic treatments including weight loss treatments, hair removal, cellulite removal, facials, skincare and more. The brand was founded in 1985 and has expanded internationally over the years, with franchises in over 20 countries.
The brand specialises in using innovative techniques and state of the art equipment, to deliver exceptional results to their customers. As a result, the brand has an excellent reputation around the world, making it a great choice to invest in, for franchisees interested in the beauty and wellness sectors.
Cost
- Franchise Investment: £18,000
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Depicool
This company is renowned for its Intense Pulsed Light Permanent Hair Reduction services. They offer a complete package to get a new centre open quickly while ensuring quality. They also support with equipment, interior design, treatment protocols, training, manuals, operational & marketing support and all registration documents.
Cost
- Franchise Investment: £7,500
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Headcase Barbers
Headcase Barbers was established in 2000, with a vision to reinvent traditional men’s barbering services. With a focus on offering high quality grooming services in a stylish and inviting setting, the brand appeals to a wider market, and reaches out to the growing style conscious audience among younger men.
The brand has now become one of the UK’s largest men’s grooming services, with franchises across the nation. Headcase Barbers also has a growing presence around the world, with master franchisees based across the Netherlands, South Africa, and Ireland.
Cost
- Franchise Investment: £55,000 plus VAT
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Toni&Guy
Toni&Guy is an international hairdressing brand, and the only one to acquire the coveted status of “superbrand”. Founded in London in 1963 by two brothers, Toni and Guy Mascolo, the franchise has expanded to over 50 countries, with over 500 branches around the world.
The Toni&Guy brand has won numerous awards over the decades, for hairdressing and grooming, beauty, styling and trend vision. As a result, the company is strongly associated with a contemporary and fashionable approach to hairdressing for both men and women, and is an ideal opportunity for a potential franchisee that is passionate about the industry.
Cost
- Franchise Investment: £96,000
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Thérapie Clinic
Founded in 2001, Thérapie Clinic claims to be one of Europe’s leading laser hair removals, anti-aging and aesthetic treatment specialists. Focusing on both men and women, aesthetic treatments include dermal and lip fillers, cool sculpting (a process that freezes and reduces fat), teeth straightening and anti-wrinkle injectables, which reduce lines and wrinkles around the eyes and forehead.
The company also offers customers a range of advanced skin treatments using products from brands such as Image Skincare, Murad and Environ. Since it opened its doors, Thérapie Clinic’s medical team has successfully delivered over two million treatments from its state of the art clinics. The brand has a price match guarantee on all its laser hair removal services.
Cost
- On Demand
Running a cosmetic salon franchise is not an easy feat. From the initial marketing difficulties to gradually, organically securing a loyal base of customers – it can be a tricky chase. Important things to remember in this aspect are: hiring well-trained staff, managing overheads, re-investing in marketing (on your own or through your franchisor) and staying innovative.
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