5 ways HEIR Salon is different to other salons
Okay so we are probably biased as we obviously think our lovely salon business is pretty awesome!
Since launching HEIR we have worked hard to provide our clients with the best experience whether that be through an accessible and simple digital customer journey and or whilst physically in the salon experiencing results led services and products.
We always ask our clients for feedback and use this to adapt the business, to meet the ever changing needs of our amazing clients and to adapt the business around regulatory needs as well.
Here are our Top 5 Reasons Why we think HEIR Salon is the best!
1) We Recycle 99.9% of the hair waste that is generated in our business
Most of the hair waste in a lot of hair salons is usually disposed of in general waste.
To put a figure on this its about 99%, the other 1% can be donated to various charities for wigs and hair extensions.
You have probably seen companies like Little Princess Trust who provide real hair wigs, free of charge, to children and young people who have lost their own hair through cancer treatment. This is fantastic, but of course the donated hair needs to be a certain length to meet the criteria to donate.
There has recently been a rise in UK companies offering to dispose of salon waste (such as the 99% of hair which cant be donated for wigs) in more sustainable ways.
This got us thinking…
At HEIR we aim to connect with and support the wider community by sharing skills and services with local individuals and business.
Could hair waste be used to benefit any other businesses or projects within the local area?
Looking at other companies, we came across various ways to usefully reuse hair waste.
During our investigations we discovered that human hair is one of the highest nitrogen-containing organic material in nature.
This is because it is predominantly made up of nitrogen-containing proteins.
Human hair also contains sulfur, carbon, and around 20 other elements which are essential for plants!
To give you an idea of comparison: cattle dung, which is often used by farmers for fertilising soil contains only 0.2-0.3% of nitrogen. Human hair contains 16%!
Lightbulb moment pending…
We initially thought that human hair would decompose very slowly, which is true in the atmosphere.
However when mixed with moisture and certain elements which are present in soil, human hair can decompose in just a couple of months, providing a protein rich plant nutrient for around 2/3 cropping seasons.
And to think of how much human hair goes into general waste!
This protein rich waste could be perfect for any businesses or individuals who grow plants or vegetables.
To make a small sustainable step, we have contacted various local farms who would like a weekly/monthly donation of human hair cuttings to add to into their compost, which we will deliver completely free of charge.
We now provide regular hair cutting deliveries to Lytham Hall, who use it to grow delicious produce which are then used in the kitchen and cafe!
Do you have an allotment or home composter? Would you like to use human hair to to produce nutrients for your crops?
If you are in the salon and having a haircut, we will happily provide you with a bag of hair waste to take home.
Or alternatively if you have a larger farm or compost heap, we can easily arrange local delivery. Just get in touch via email and we will be happy to help!
2) We collaborate with other local business
Using our hair cutting waste to benefit the community is one of our proudest local collaborations
and its just just one of them!
We also have fantastic collaborations with Le Roti, Me and The Bea, Kozo Store
who are all local, family run businesses, their work and produce are proudly used and sold within our salon.
Le-Roti Provide our clients with excellent salads, sandwiches and soups!
3) We run a fully Employed Business Model.
The future of the hairdressing industry and the high street salon is very important to us.
This is why we continue to run a fully employed salon business.
The last few years has seen a huge rise in hairdressers deciding to become self employed and salon’s changing their business model so that the whole team is self employed.
Whilst we don’t have a problem with these changes, we do recognise that the future of the industry is at risk if everyone were to change their business this way.
Why? Because self employed hairdressers, especially if they work solo, don’t usually train apprentices.
Apprentices are the future of our industry and we very proudly employ, train and nurture young apprentices which creates the next generation of salon owners and employers.
We proudly fly the flag for the high street salon.
It isn’t just about apprentices (although this is a huge part of our business culture), we also nurture the rest of our team with upto date education, mental health appraisals with a trained psycotherapist, pension contributions above the recomended guidelines and much more.
We believe the future of the hairdressing industry needs salon’s like ours to continue to pass the torch to the next generation so that the high street salon continues long into the future.
We are regularly looking for the next generation so if your a hairdresser who is interested in working at HEIR Salon or a young person who is interested in an apprenticeship in hairdressing contact us now or check our our careers page for more information
4) We give our clients an easy and accessible digital journey into our business.
We have spent a lot of time digitalising our salon business in this last 24 months.
We try to give our existing and potential new clients as much information answered from the comfort of their home if needs be, without ever having to remember to call us during opening hours. We provide:
Online consultation Forms
Informative blogs
Online Booking System
Automated feedback systems
Text message reminders
All of these help you access information about us quickly, at the touch of a button, 24/7.
5) The Blow Dry Club
Oh we do like to treat our clients, that’s why we provide an exclusive blow dry club which gives our clients affordable and accessible blow dries whenever they want!
For a monthly fee starting from just £45 we allow access to online bookings where you can manage your bookings and have as many blow dries as you like.
click here and we will send you and easy to follow process to sign up and book in.
To be honest, we could have written a lot more than 5 examples to show you what make HEIR Salon special, unique and customer focussed….So in an area where you are spoiled for choice for talented hairdressers, we are more than talented hairdressers…we are HEIR we believe in nurturing, developing, growing and contributing and we are different in lots of good ways!
Thank you for reading, please share your comments with us below x x