On the 4th July 2020, the UK government gave permission for the 43,292 hair salons* around the country to reopen their doors after over three months of enforced closures. Not only did Just Cuts, the international hair salon franchise, open all of their existing sites – they launched two further salons in Middlesbrough and Sunderland. Six weeks later, Just Cuts Blackburn opened its doors. David Mathie, UK General Manager, puts this down to the continued determination of the Just Cuts family and the Franchise Owners spearheading the brand’s UK growth.
When I first started working with Just Cuts, back in 2014, I knew the brand was destined for great things. The heritage, culture and their commitment to Client and Franchise Owner experience really appealed to me and my passion for the hair and beauty industry. Six years later and I don’t think anyone could have predicted what 2020 would have in store for us. Financial struggles, a travel ban – which has been particularly difficult for me, having relocated from Australia to the UK last year – and non-essential business closures have all been common-place challenges that the majority of us have had to deal with. But, in spite of these considerations, there was never any doubt in my mind that Just Cuts could come out of the other side of this pandemic as strong as ever before.
That’s because our brand is built on the fundamentals of community – a commitment that is mutually beneficial for all that fall under the umbrella of the Just Cuts brand. Our Academy team work together to build and maintain a business operations strategy that benefits every Franchise Owner in our network. And our Franchise Owners implement and deliver these processes for the benefit of their own business, in turn, setting a quality standard for other Franchise Owners too. We work together for the greater good of each other.
In terms of my commitment to the Franchise Owners in the UK, I lead a team of specialists who work closely with our British Franchise Owners to ensure their respective salons are operating to their full potential. In fact, demand for our franchise investment opportunity is so high that we’ve just added Donna Topham, Business Development Manager, to our team. Between Donna and I, we are in regular – almost daily – contact with our Franchise Owners, whilst also pushing forward with the expansion of our UK presence.
This concept of community was all the more critical during the nationwide salon closures caused by the pandemic. Throughout this period, I committed to checking in with our Franchise Owners on a daily basis, encouraging them to keep looking to the future and where we would continue to take their businesses as soon as we had the green light to reopen. It became clear that, as a brand and across the entire franchising industry, we had to prepare for a new beginning and new challenges to look forward to – both of which I knew were on the horizon.
In Just Cuts’ case, that new beginning came in the form of three salon launches, all within weeks of the so-called ‘Super Saturday’ – the date on which all hair salons around the UK had permission to reopen. The first two, in Middlesbrough and Sunderland, were operational from that very first Saturday, welcoming the hordes of desperate Clients who had gone three and a half months without a haircut. Whilst these were launched as company-owned salons – as part of a rapid expansion initiative we launched late last year – both have since been taken on by a Franchise Owner. On Wednesday 19th August, just over six weeks later, we added Just Cuts Blackburn to our UK network. And we can’t imagine it will be long before Blackburn is snapped up too!
As we enter the fourth and final quarter of 2020, I’m grateful for the challenges we’ve overcome this year and where Just Cuts is headed in the future. Whilst our brand has a comprehensive list of goals to strive for before the year is out, the one I’m most looking forward to is upholding our reputation as a supportive and innovative franchisor, as we take on new challenges together.
*Statista, 2018, Number of enterprises for hairdressing and other beauty treatments.
