As clients increasingly look to barbershops for extended opening hours and add-on services, serving food and alcohol provides a solution for them and an added income stream for you – as well as the chance to partner with other local brands.
Everything You Need to Know About Serving Food in Your Barbershop
When serving food in your barbershop, you must be aware that anyone handling food sold to the public needs to abide by certain standards of hygiene, which are laid out in the Food Safety Act. Contact your local environmental health officer for guidance, as staff involved with food production may have to complete a hygiene course.
For more advice on food safety, visit the Food Standards Agency, and for further information about licensing laws, visit www.direct.gov.uk.
Partnering with Businesses to Supply Food in Your Barbershop
Here, Steve Rowbottom, Director of Westrow, shares his top tips when partnering with businesses to supply food to clients…
Keep it Local - We always try to use local services to support the business. If the local area is thriving, it benefits the business and when more people visit the area, money is spent locally, and small independent businesses are better off for it – not to mention the potential new clients it brings.
Think Added Value - Remember it’s not always about the financial aspect – it’s about adding value to the client experience. We hope that by offering services we will see an increase in appointments made for group bookings.
Keep Control of The Creative Input into The Menu and Any Offers You Wish to Advertise - Think about linking it with special promotional salon services – for example, small plates and a pint for Father’s Day.
Think of The Client Potential - It might attract more business professionals between 12pm and 2pm as they can relax, have lunch and attend afternoon meetings looking groomed to perfection.
Make You Initiatives Known - Make sure your clients know of your initiatives by promoting it through e-newsletters, social media and your website. The more you publicise what you are doing, the greater the uptake.
Everything You Need to Know About Serving Alcohol in Your Barbershop
Opening a few beers or serving up a rum and coke in the barbershop to treat your clients is a great way to make them feel special, but if you don’t have the right licences to serve food and drink, you could face a hefty fine as without a drink’s license, you’ll be committing an offence under the licensing laws.
The Licensing Act stipulates that you need two licenses to sell alcohol:
A Personal Licence – for the person authorised to sell the alcohol.
A Premises Licence – for the site.
Both of these licences have a cost attached to them which will vary according to your local authority.
Some barbershop owners get caught out over the fact that you also need a licence to give drinks away to your customers as part of the service. We spoke to a licensing officer with one local authority who told us: “If there’s any suggestion that the alcohol being provided is linked to a sale, then a licence is needed.”
So, if you’re giving customers a glass of wine or a bottle of beer during their appointment, that means you’re only offering it to people that are having a haircut – and that means it’s linked to a sale, even if you’re not charging them directly for the drink. If anyone could come into your salon and have a free drink – for example, people who aren’t there for a hairdressing service – you could argue that the drink isn’t linked to a sale, and that you don’t need a licence. You would need to check this with your local authority first though.
Serving Alcohol at an Event in Your Barbershop
You won’t require a licence for a one-off occasion, such as an open evening or a party, if the people attending aren’t there for a haircut. If it’s a regular occurrence, you may need a temporary event notice. The licensing officer we spoke to urged any barbershop owners to contact their local authority to clarify the position as various local authorities may interpret the law differently. So, what a barbershop in one area is allowed to do, may not be the same for a barbershop in another borough.
For more information, please head to: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/.
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