Not-for-profit industry organisation, the British Beauty Council, has successfully lobbied the UK government to change the way it classifies and tracks economic activity relating to the beauty industry.

For decades, a single UK Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code was used to group spa, hair and beauty services alongside “other personal services,” which included businesses operating funerals, dry-cleaning and laundry services. 

The Council has lobbied for seven years for an update to the classification system to reflect the diversity of services that make up the “beauty industry”, which contributes £30.4 billion (US$38.6 billion, €35.3 billion) to the nation’s GDP. They have done this so that the performance of each subsector can be tracked, assessed and supported at policy level.

Spa, hair and beauty services are now listed as part of a new group, with sub-classifications for hairdressing and barber activities; beauty care and other beauty treatment activities; and day spa, sauna and steambath activities.

Millie Kendall, CEO of the British Beauty Council, said: “The classifications were outdated and no longer represented the breadth of the multi-faceted industry. We have been told time and time again that it’s near impossible to change how our industry is listed, as it was a global coding system, but we persevered and developed a strong argument for change with the support of our stakeholders.

International classification

The Council has also secured updates to international and European industrial classification frameworks, following approval from the United Nations Statistical Commission. These include the UN’s standardised codes, International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC) and the European NACE codes.

This means economic industry data will be collected and standardised globally. The data will also enable international industry bodies, including the British Beauty Council to understand where support is required.

Implementation within statistical systems is expected to take place in phases over the coming years. 

Victoria Brownlie, the Council’s chief policy and sustainability officer told Spa Business: "NACE and ISIC have already begun implementing the changes, and similar to the UK, these new codes will be changed across all their data gathering platforms in the next two to four years.”