The face behind the BRAND

L’Oréal Professionnel Paris’s General Manager UK & Ireland Freddie Banks on the importance of a positive mindset

1 What have you learned during the first six months of your role?

For me, this role feels like coming home as I’m now leading the brand that started my career after I finished university. It is a humbling experience to start at the bottom and now be leading and taking the brand to the next level.

Over the past six months I’ve seen the power of coming together across many initiatives: Hair the Love, Pro Positivity and Stronger Together campaigns and we’ve helped to support salons by increasing the amount of education on Access – our digital e-learning platform, specifically in response to the pandemic with training such as hygiene and safety.

2 What has been the highlight of the role so far?

I’ve loved seeing the connection we’ve had with customers over the past year. I believe we’ve never been closer as an industry before. We’ve found everyone is sharing best practises with each other openly with problem-solving and suggestions – it’s incredible!

I believe hairdressing is now deemed the most essential non-essential business and this is what has been achieved together as a community. This shift in mindset is the highlight for me.

3 What help and support is L’Oréal Professionnel Paris offering the industry at the moment?

Everything L’Oréal Professionnel Paris does can be summed up with one word – solidarity. We have a responsibility to help the industry bounce back. We’ve put together Bounce Back and Back to Business guides which are all available on our online Access platform. We are also helping those who are most in need with partnerships with the

Hair and Beauty Charity for the Walk for Hair challenge and for the Hair the Love campaign we partnered with both the Hair and Beauty Charity and Haircuts4Homeless. We’ve made many courses free on our Access platform to help salons get match-fit in time for reopening. We’ve also developed even stronger relationships with the trade bodies to elevate our industry moving forward.

4 What can we expect to see from L’Oréal Professionnel Paris this year?

L’Oréal Professionnel Paris will be launching the first nationwide promotion to drive women into the salon for colour services and this campaign will be coming very soon.

This year we’ll also be launching something that we’ve been working on for the past seven years – it will be linked to colour services with more news to come this summer. It’s really  exciting because there’s never been a better time to valorise the professional difference and expertise with in-salon only services and treatments and we’ll be helping salons to optimise this!

5 Do you have any tips or advice for the coming months?

We need to get teams match-fit again. We also need to check they are in the right mindset. We’ve got lots of free social media, trends and colour education on Access to support and inspire teams. I’d also advise salons to over-communicate with their clients, using channels such as social media.

Clients still need to be reminded of how salons are prioritising safety, so share your hygiene practises with them.

6 How can hair businesses thrive in 2021 and beyond? The value of the hairdresser and opinions about our industry have never been as elevated as they are right now. There has never been a better time to offer clients all of the services you have on your menu.

It’s time to consider packages and multiple bookings to drive sales and loyalty. Our industry has shown incredible strength and resilience.

Now it is time to continue to valorise the incredible skills and services they offer to clients, as they have never been missed so much.

7 Why is a positive mindset essential in business?

I’m a naturally positive person and use positivity as a business strategy. I instil this within my team as I believe it helps us to embrace anything life throws at us. I would encourage salon owners to bring this into the team.

1“During lockdown I took it upon myself to do a wine degree. I love drinking wine so it was a good excuse to drink every night and I’d love to own a vineyard one day.”

2 “I’m a huge fan of travelling around the world and meeting people from different cultures. I enjoy sharing holiday anecdotes.

I’d love to create a travel book filled with personal stories and hidden gems from some of my favourite places around the world.”

3 “I’m always up for a laugh and always see the funny and positive side to every situation so I have an unofficial title of the ‘fun police’ at L’Oréal Professionnel Paris.”