Where Are The Best Locations To Open A Barbershop In the UK?

best locations to open a barbershop

Research led by Yell Business has revealed the best locations to open a new barbershop in the UK in 2022. Thinking of starting your own business? Read on to find out where you should start…

Is now the right time?

Despite pandemic pushbacks, it was revealed that 11,841 new businesses in the Hair and Beauty sector were founded in 2021.

It’s encouraging to see that the entrepreneurial spirit of the nation is alive and well, with more businesses founded per month in 2021 than in 2020, or even during pre-pandemic 2019. An average of 13% more new businesses were founded each month in 2021 versus 2019 with the Hair and Beauty industry contributing significantly.

Where is the best location to open a barbershop in the UK?

Yell’s research, using Companies House data and Google search data, also revealed where budding entrepreneurs could find the biggest opportunities within this sector. This was achieved by analysing the Google search demand for the likes of ‘London barbershop’ versus the actual number of businesses offering this service, in each area.

In particular, the demand for barbers in Milton Keynes far outweighs the supply, with over 176 searches per listed firm, providing an opportunity for any barber looking to go it alone.

Best locations to open a barbershop

The top five places to open a barbershop (based on searches per listing):

  1. Milton Keynes (176.67)
  2. Oxford (165.20)
  3. Guildford (149.73)
  4. Canterbury (139.56)
  5. Nottingham (138.72)

Claire Miles, Chief Executive Officer of Yell commented: “With the challenges of the last two years, we might expect to find that fewer people were deciding to take the leap into the world of starting and running their own business. However, the data clearly shows that it has potentially inspired more people to take ownership of what they do for a living and finally make the dream of running their own business come true.”

Finally, the findings highlighted which areas of the UK had seen the highest number of businesses launched per capita, and somewhat surprisingly the Welsh coastal town of Llandudno ranked as the most entrepreneurial location, showing that big business doesn’t just start in the city.