On 12th June, 150 people from the hairdressing and barbering industry, including representatives from VTCT, joined the Hair & Barber Council for afternoon tea at the House of Commons, to lobby support for mandatory registration for the industry. State registered hairdressers and barbers, manufacturers, press and other trade organisations came together to not only show support for the campaign, but to see how the Hair Council had changed in the last 12 months.
Registrar, Keith Conniford, who has only been running the Hair Council for 12 months, spoke about the changes he has made, and the new initiatives that should help push the campaign forward, such as the student pre-registration scheme. Julie Guzzo, from Coleg Cambria College, was asked to speak about why they decided to pilot the new scheme, which involves students committing to their registration when enrolling at college.
Keith announced the launch of the new Associate Register, scheduled for 3rd July. This means that all factions of the hairdressing industry will be able to become members of The Hair and Barber Council, to help the Council politically, as it will show the support of the industry as a whole. The Right Honorable John McNally MP, Chair of the Hair industry All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG), spoke about how proud he is to represent hairdressers and barbers in government, and was delighted with the significant steps forward The Council had made over the past twelve months.
It was also a very special day for Dora Fletcher SRH, who was celebrating her 65th year in hairdressing and 45th year as a Master Craftsman. Chairman, Bill Shaw MBE presented Dora with an award as the longest serving state registered hairdresser.
Iconic hairdresser, Patrick Cameron was in London on the day and was able to make a special appearance for the afternoon. Patrick said, “I am very proud to be involved with the Hair Council and fully support their efforts to bring about compulsory state registration. Their commitment to the unified professionalism of our industry is so important and they work hard to maintain high standards, in a controlled way, which helps to retain the reputation of British hairdressing”.
