Dubbed National Nail Tech Price Increase Day, thousands of nail salons across the UK are set to raise their prices from today (8 April).
The cost of manicures and pedicures will go up after nail technicians banded together to up their prices in an effort to get a fair wage.
The Nail Tech Org (NTO) has warned that its member nail technicians make under £7 per hour on average. This is less than minimum wage, which now stands at £11.44 per hour.
A message to nail technicians on the organisation’s Instagram account said: “The purpose of this day is to give you all the tools, resources and knowledge to understand how much it costs you to run your business.
“Our studies have found a lot of nail techs are working for less than minimum wage. We have created this day so nail techs feel empowered and supported and come together to make changes to our prices (if needed) correctly at the same time – we create a new normal. A normal that pays us a fair wage for the work that we do and the services that we provide. This isn’t just a campaign; it’s a movement towards empowering nail technicians like yourself to run not just a successful, but also a sustainable business!”
Nail bars set their own prices, depending on various factors such as their location and the treatments offered. But rising costs of utilities and products means nail technicians say they are selling themselves short by charging less than their outgoings.
Nail technician Amy Guy, from Liverpool, told the BBC: “As with any business, there are so many costs that are factored into one treatment, and it’s such a standard that nail techs have always joined the industry, and just looked at what everybody else is charging, and charged around the same.
“Which doesn’t factor in these costs. It doesn’t fairly pay them and allow them to have a solid income, a profit, and be able to cover all the business costs, along with things like paying into their own pension, and holiday and sick pay that you would be entitled to as an employed person.
“So there’s no right or wrong – you won’t see every nail tech increase their prices, but if you do see nail techs tomorrow onwards increasing their prices, it’s for the right reason, so they can actually earn a solid income from their hard work.”
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