Despite revenues of beauty salons and barbers across the UK dropping significantly, in Cardiff there are plenty of salons making changes to avoid the worst of the cost of living crisis. Whether it's been raising prices or investing in eco-friendly gadgets, adaptivity has been essential to hair salons looking to bounce back from the pandemic.
We went to Michelle Marshall Salon in the city centre expecting to hear the national picture - of customers spending less money, less often - repeated on a local level. But Michelle herself told us otherwise - business is booming, and she said: "We've grown, in fact."
She explained the reasons behind this - the pandemic forced her two salons (one in Wyndham Arcade and one in Rhiwbina) to switch to using biodegradable single-use gowns and towels, rather than reusable ones. When restrictions lifted, Michelle's team realised changing back to reusable gear would increase costs.
