Apprenticeship Reforms Aim To Cut Red Tape And Time

Changes to English and maths qualifications for over 19s and shorter apprenticeship duration included

by AMANDA | INFORM

The Department for Education is removing English and maths functional skills exit requirements for adult apprentices, alongside a reduction in the minimum apprenticeship duration from 12 to eight months and a streamlining of End Point Assessments. 

Businesses will now be able to decide whether adult learners over 19 need to complete Level 2 English and maths qualifications to pass their apprenticeship. The change comes in with immediate effect. 

The reduction in the minimum amount of time it takes to complete an apprenticeship – cut from 12 to eight months – will take effect from August 2025, with an eye on speeding up the development of future workers.  

 Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Phillipson, said: “Businesses have been calling out for change to the apprenticeship system and these reforms show that we are listening. Our new offer of shorter apprenticeships and less red tape strikes the right balance between speed and quality, helping achieve our number one mission to grow the economy.”  

The reforms also include changes to End Point Assessments (EPAs). From April 2025, the assessment process will become more streamlined. This includes more proportionate assessment methods that remove duplication, potential for on-programme assessment where appropriate and greater flexibility for training providers to deliver certain assessment elements. 

Caroline Larissey, chief executive of the National Hair and Beauty Federation, commented that the change to English and maths requirements could appeal to those who “excel in practical skills but struggle with formal qualifications”. “This could lead to a more diverse and skilled workforce, better equipped to meet the evolving needs of our clients,” she said. 

Cathy Weston, director of quality and standards at the NHBF, added that the change was “particularly promising” when considering completion rates and could “significantly improve success rates” while maintaining high standards. 

 However, Larissey said the increase in apprentice minimum wages and the need for “more robust employer incentives” still posed challenges: “The NHBF will be pressing the government for answers on how they plan to support employers in maintaining sustainable apprenticeship programmes, particularly in a sector where margins are already extremely tight.” 

Seven Key Takeaways From The 2025 Phorest Salon Owners Summit

The 2025 Phorest Salon Owners Summit in Dublin brought together salon professionals from around the world for a refreshing event designed to help them elevate their businesses and prepare for the year ahead. Creative HEAD was there – these are the insights you need to know!

by AMANDA | INFORM

1. Customer Intimacy Is Key To Brand Success

Ken Hughes, a consumer and cyber behaviouralist, emphasised the importance of human connection, exploring how salons can foster intimacy by going beyond expectations. His example? Taylor Swift and her success at building customer relationships! His advice including using their spaces as community hubs and recognising the employee experience as equally valuable to the customer experience.

2. Empower Staff For A Thriving Culture

Hairstylist Daniel Mason-Jones focused on creating a healthy workplace culture by addressing mental health and setting boundaries. Provide clear communication and training, and use tools like Phorest Tips to empower staff with transparent compensation structures.

Ronan Harrington

3. Break Barriers In Beauty

A live panel tackled diversity and inclusion in beauty, featuring trailblazers such as Carra’s Winnie Awa, Texture vs Race’s Keya Neal, Ruka Hair’s Tendai Moyo and beauty writer DijaAyodele. The discussion explored expanding circles of trust, product innovation (including Tendai’s biodegradable synthetic hair) and the need for truly diverse industry panels and leadership. There were lessons from the US beauty market, which was seen as “eight to 10 years ahead” of the UK in inclusivity terms.

4. Prioritise Resilience And Wellbeing

Resilience teacher Ronan Harrington offered tools to navigate challenges with intention and grace. Begin each day with purpose and focus on meaningful connections. He advised shifting from a “victim mindset” to a “creator mindset”, while also taking care of personal wellness to avoid burnout. Spa innovator Peigin Crowley also highlighted the importance of mental health, encouraging salon owners to recognise and manage burnout effectively.

5. Leverage AI To Transform Salon Operations

AI and its potential to revolutionise salons were a recurring theme. Phorest’s John Doran discussed how AI can boost average bills through upselling and cross-selling, provide actionable insights from data, help staff achieve goals with forecasting tools, enhance marketing with AI-generated content and improve client communication through an AI receptionist.

6. Master The Client Lifecycle

Marketing guru Kati Whitledge shared strategies for winning and retaining clients, stressingthe importance of continuous exposure, creating a desire for your services through visibility. You’ve got to be proactive in pursuing clients and prioritise making a lasting impression at every client touchpoint.

Peigin Crowley

7. Unlock Hidden Gems In Phorest Tools

Phorest’s own Patrick Monaghan and Rich Cullen unveiled five “hidden gems” within its software that every salon should be using – advanced online booking settings, reporting tools, digital loyalty programmes, marketing magic features and Phorest’s Benchmark Report, which tracks industry trends and performance metrics.

What Did We Learn At Wella RED Business Network Live?

From the genesis of the Bank of Dave to the power of ‘Careless Whisper’, discover the insight we brought back from the iconic business event

by AMANDA | INFORM

With more than 250 from across the UK and Ireland based at Manchester’s Kimpton Clocktower Hotel, the 2025 Wella RED Business Network Live was engineered to tackle the challenges impacting salon owners right now. Both inspirational speakers and real business leaders took to the stage to share practical insights, personal experiences and debate potential solutions for headaches that will arise from the Autumn Budget and impending changes to employment rights. Here are they big lessons we learned:

Stay On Top Of Your Records – Or Else
With big changes incoming to employment rights – from unfair dismissal to harassment, family leave to flexible working – Sally Hulston and Ciara Fulton from law firm Lewis Silkin insisted record keeping will be key to staying on the right side of the law.

Show The Brilliance Of Being Employed
With the Budget bringing rising costs, VAT headaches and now employment rights changes favouring workers, being an employer has arguably never looked so unattractive. But Hellen Ward – joined on a panel by fellow salon bosses Anya Dellicompagni, Natasha Grossman, Alan Simpson and Patrick Gildea – encouraged everyone to communicate to teams just why being employed is so attractive, to stem the flow of talent leaving for self-employment. “We need to make sure that ‘employment’ doesn’t become a dirty word,” she insisted.

Focus On Strengths
Leadership expert Mark Edwards warned of the impact of low engagement on business (estimates put it at costing £257bn a year!). “Gen Z have zero tolerance for not being inspired at work,” he warned, with ‘quiet quitting’ on the rise. “You need to focus on what is right rather than fixating on what is wrong.”

Do ‘Tiny Noticeable Things’

You need to be up for making changes, warned leading motivational speaker and author, Adrian Webster, and doing ‘tiny noticeable things’ are explosive. “They show you care,” he said, “and they can often cost nothing.”

Fun Fact – Hard Graft Is Still Key

Formula One team owner and chairman of McLaren Applied, Nick Fry, was frank. “The difference between those who are successful and those who aren’t, is hard work,” he said. “The successful people actually get on and do it.”

Someone who just got on and did it? Dave Fishwick, best known as the brains behind the Bank of Dave in Burnley (he’s also the biggest supplier of minibuses in Britain). His start came from making a £29 profit on the sale of a used car, while working market stall shifts and spinning records as a DJ at night… often working seven days a week. “If you’re not making mistakes, then you’re not trying hard enough,” he said. “Take the risk and 99 per cent of them will pay off.”    

Adrian Webster

Flip The Conversation
Communication expert Lee Warren shared tips on how to be more persuasive, all through the power of language. “If you’re talking about a weakness and strength, put the weakness first in the conversation, then the strength last,” he advised. “The response will be very different.”

Don’t Get Comfortable
Starting with a cement mixer and a car paint sprayer to make her first big batch of popcorn, Cassandra Stavrou MBE – founder of healthy snack company, Proper Snacks – plays ‘Careless Whisper’ at 1pm each day through the office to signal its lunchtime… and desk eating is banned! But don’t mistake that for any kind of weakness – her drive has seen Proper Snacks hit £100m+ in sales, and its growing. “An impatient business is a progressive business,” she argued. “Comfort zones become graveyards for ideas. Embrace ambiguity and embrace contradiction.

Cassandra Stavrou MBE