The business owner
Steph Stevenson is an entrepreneur and founder of HNB Hair and Beauty Spa, a super-salon based in Sandbanks, Dorset. She presents on QVC USA and will launch Marie Claire Jet Style, a chain of multi-service salons, at British airports and transport hubs later this year.
Sometimes, whenever I’ve had a busy day in the salon, working without a break, I find a surprise Mars bar tucked inside my bag. There’s only one person who could have put it there: our apprentice, Amy. Going on a mid-afternoon chocolate run isn’t a skill apprentices can add to their CVs, but this little gesture is more meaningful than you may think. To me, it suggests that when Amy eventually becomes a stylist, she’ll constantly be thinking about her clients. In the customer-driven world of today’s beauty industry, that’s everything. I’ve no doubt that Amy will go far.
I’ve spent 35 years working in the hair industry, and I’ve always used apprentices. In fact, I’ve now got stylists working for me on the salon floor who’ve been here since they were 16. Having homegrown talent is a huge business advantage: they know your culture and standards inside-out.
It’s why I didn’t hesitate to take on five young people via the [Plan for Jobs] Kickstart scheme at the height of the pandemic. Like many salons, Covid-19 hit HNB: we only traded for 17 weeks in 2020. Furlough has been a lifesaver: many salons wouldn’t be open now if it wasn’t for that support.
Kickstart provided talent and funding when HNB needed it. Since taking on the new recruits, they’ve been at the core of running the salon: shampooing clients, making sure stylists have the equipment they need and keeping our customer experience special.
They also provide so much more than an extra pair of hands. These young people educate me too. Businesses need youngsters in order to relate to the world and be relevant: it’s always great learning what they think and what their expectations are. Sometimes, when you’ve been doing a job for a long time, it’s hard to remain enthusiastic. But the apprentices’ energy and enthusiasm rubs off on our staff and clients. They’ve also taught me to take selfies!
Hiring apprentices is a brilliant way of upskilling the rest of your staff too: three of our stylists are now learning management skills through mentoring the apprentices.
There are also the financial incentives. Under the usual apprentice scheme, their college education is completely funded.
Apprenticeships have helped publicise hairdressing as a well-paid, rewarding career option. Being a hairdresser doesn’t mean you’ll spend your career standing behind a chair all day in a sleepy village, cutting hair. Often, young people don’t realise they could earn £2,000-a-day working as a hair stylist for big brands – one of my friends is employed full-time by Elton John.
We [as business owners] owe it to the younger generation to help them out. If we don’t take a chance on apprentices, this won’t happen.
Plus, as a boss, you get such a buzz when your former apprentices are doing well. Sometimes I’ll drive around this area and see salons owned by girls I trained. That gives me such a thrill; it’s like you’re leaving a legacy.
If you hire an apprentice, it could change their life. But it can also help grow your
sector: if that apprentice starts employing people in the future, you could be changing five, 10, 20 other people’s lives. By hiring apprentices, you’re future-shaping your organisation for the next 10-15 years. Right now, the UK needs its business leaders to do that more than ever.
The apprentice
Amy Wilkinson, 20, is a junior hairdresser and personal assistant at HNB. She’s recently completed her level 3 apprenticeship, and now mentors Darcy Burridge who is on the Kickstart scheme.
Last year, I qualified as a hairdresser and it was really exciting. It also reminded me I’ve come a long way since I started my apprenticeship.
I left school when I was 16. Having done my work experience at HNB during year 10, I got a Saturday job there, which involved tasks such as passing up curlers to the stylists and cleaning the salon. Shortly afterwards, HNB asked me to do an apprenticeship. Back then, I was shy and didn’t like talking to people. Doing the apprenticeship has changed all that; it’s given me so much confidence.
One of the best things about doing an apprenticeship is the education you receive. I’ve learned how to do cuts, blow-dries and colours. There’s also a lot of theoretical work. Learning during lockdowns was challenging, but I practised by cutting my sisters’ and parents’ hair, and watched YouTube videos to learn more.
Being able to earn while learning was also great. It’s good to have spending money, but it’s also helping me save to buy an apartment.
With the confidence the schemes have given me, I’d like to become a senior stylist at HNB. Who knows? I might get to run my own hair salon one day!”
Plan for Jobs schemes: at a glance
Kickstart
With Covid affecting the job prospects of young people more than any other demographic, the £2bn Kickstart scheme was launched last year to help stem a potential rise in youth unemployment. Through Kickstart’s six-month jobs, 16- to 24-year-olds can develop skills needed to find a job or land a full-time position.
Eligibility: Unemployed 16- to 24-year-olds claiming universal credit and at risk of long-term unemployment in England, Wales and Scotland, by 31 December 2021.
Duration: A six-month job.
Funding: 100% of the national minimum wage (or national living wage, depending on a participant’s age) for 25 hours a week for a total of six months. Funding also covers national insurance contributions, minimum automatic enrolment pension contributions and further funding is available for training.
Apprenticeships
Apprenticeships offer businesses the chance to expand and upskill their workforce, while enabling people to combine on-the-job experience with studying, gaining qualifications and earning a wage. Today, apprenticeships aren’t just for blue-collar jobs and are available at law firms, banks, accounting firms and even Whitehall, which has hired apprentice economists.
Eligibility: 16+; there is no upper age limit, in England.
Duration: Apprenticeships can take anything from one to four years to complete. Apprentices usually work 30 hours a week with one day a week studying at a university/college or training provider.
Funding: Companies with a payroll of more than £3m a year will already be paying the apprenticeship levy, which requires them to put 0.5% of their pay bill into a central government fund.
Firms below the levy threshold pay 5% of the training costs of the apprentice; the government covers the rest.
Small employers with fewer than 50 employees have all the costs paid if they hire 16-to-18-year-olds.
Employers in England will receive £3,000 for new apprentices who join until 30 September 2021.
Traineeships
A skills development programme that includes a long work placement at an organisation. Companies can design their own programme to suit the needs of both the business and trainee.
Eligibility: 16-25, in England.
Duration: Placements last from six weeks to a year; most traineeships are less than six months.
Funding: Businesses can apply for a £1,000 incentive payment for each traineeship work placement that lasts for at least 70 hours.
T-level qualifications
Vocational placements use a blend of classroom learning and on-the-job experience. They’re available in industries such as accounting, building, catering, hairdressing, engineering and media. A T-level is equivalent to three A-levels.
Eligibility: 16+, in England.
Duration: It takes two years to complete a T-level qualification, with the industry placement lasting 315 hours (approximately 45 days).
Funding: £1,000 payments for any employers hosting placements until 31 July 2022.
Getting started
To find out more, go to gov.uk/business-coronavirus-support-finder. For details on incentives and schemes for Northern Ireland, visit communities-ni.gov.uk/articles/apply-jobstart-scheme-funding
All businesses should always check eligibility for each scheme.
This advertiser content was paid for by the UK government. All together (“Supporting and creating jobs”) is a government-backed initiative tasked with informing the UK about the Covid-19 pandemic. For more information, visit gov.uk/coronavirus
