The British Beauty Council (BBC) has launched a fresh campaign under the hashtag #OhHelloBeauty to increase footfall on the high street and boost the salon and spa sector.

#OhHelloBeauty is intended to encourage consumers to return to hair and beauty salons and ‘help get high street and city centre businesses back on their feet’.

The BBC reports that since March 2020 more than 7,000 salons have gone out of business due to forced closure during lockdown and that ‘more businesses will suffer the same fate unless people start returning for treatments’.

Since this year’s reopening on 12 April, many are experiencing lower client numbers, with bookings and sales yet to return to pre-pandemic levels; the organization reports that salons are running at 30% capacity and three million fewer appointments have been booked.

We need to bring the joy back to beauty by encouraging clients to come back

Millie Kendall, CEO of The British Beauty Council, says: “We need to support the high street and city centre premises-based businesses. The personal care sector has not only struggled with the many months of closure and the on-going costs related to keeping their businesses alive – they are also not yet seeing the numbers of clients coming back to salons and stores that they had pre-COVID.

“We need to bring the joy back to beauty by encouraging clients to come back to experience the array of services we offer – most of these require immense skill and can’t always be replicated at home.”

Social media assets to support the campaign can be downloaded here.