Peckham beauty salons face more setbacks this winter, even as the cost of living crisis hits.

Two salons opened up to South London Lines about the hardships their businesses are facing. They’ve seen current weather and financial circumstances affecting their client base.

During the cost of living crisis beauty businesses in particular have seen less revenue. While people’s rent and energy bills rise, they often have to cut back on more luxurious spending such as manicures, pedicures, hair styling, etc.

Not to mention, businesses tend to struggle more in the face of cold weather. Business experts at Bionic analyzed data from the Office of National Statistics revealing that, on average, Beauty services see a 7% fall in revenue over winter months. Weather in London has been particularly cold this week with the Met Office declaring December 12 the coldest night of the year. As temperatures decrease, more people are getting sick or rather stay inside causing them to cancel appointments at salons.

Dipti’s Hair & Beauty in Peckham told South London Lines that she believes any setbacks faced by her business are due to cold times of the year. She opened her salon more than three years ago but has worked in the industry even longer. She states “As per my experience in this industry since eight years, some months have been quite hard due to weather only”.

However another Peckham based salon describes hardships beyond just cold weather. Sonal Jogani, owner of beauty salon Soni & Girl, opened her business in August 2020 and has continued to expand since then. She initially worked in a nearby Superdrug store when she decided she wanted more. Jogani has since built a loyal customer base and was even able to move her salon to a bigger venue. Even with these successes, Jogani has still faced hardships, especially recently.

In terms of cold weather, Jogani has personally seen more appointment cancellations as opposed to warmer months. She states “They’re cancelling end of the day like they’re saying okay we can make up maybe next week or another time because of the cold and the fevers”.

Jogani has also seen customers spend less money on services due to the cost of living crisis. Jogani told South London Lines that just last week a loyal customer of hers, who usually pays for additional services, was unable to because they’ve been short of the money recently. As more and more people are forced to prioritize what they spend their money on, beauty services are often put at the backburner. She said “Obviously electricity has gone high so the customer base the last two months it’s been very less so it’s been quite challenging for us”.