A NEW SALON LANDSCAPE

Following the Autumn Budget changes coming into effect this month, here’s how Beu can help you and your business…

Recent UK budget changes have put a spotlight on National Insurance (NI) contributions and salon owners are taking notice. This month, the employer NI rate will rise from 13.8% to 15%, and the threshold at which employers start paying NI on an employee’s salary will drop from £9,100 to £5,000. Meanwhile, self-employed stylists’ main NI rate (Class 4) has been cut from 9% to 6%. In light of these adjustments, many stylists and salon owners are rethinking traditional employment models. The trend toward self-employment in salons is growing, as both parties seek ways to mitigate rising costs while staying competitive and compliant. In short, these changes are reshaping how UK salons structure their teams.

The Challenges

Salons that shift to a hybrid structure – a mix of employed staff and self-employed chair renters or freelancers – quickly discover operational headaches. Without the right systems, owners could find themselves juggling spreadsheets or manual calculations at day’s end to ensure each self-employed stylist gets their correct share.

There’s also the administrative tangle of handling direct payments to multiple accounts, tracking commissions, and keeping records for both payroll employees and independent contractors. Traditional salon software often isn’t built for this complexity. Moving to a blended team structure can strain a salon’s operations unless you have tools designed for this new way of working.

Beu: A Seamless Solution for Modern Salons

Beu stands out as the only salon software specifically designed for businesses with a mix of selfemployed and employed staff. It was built from the ground up to ensure seamless management, no matter the salon structure. What does that mean for you? First, payments and commissions are handled effortlessly. With Beu’s pointof-sale (POS) system, every sale can be automatically split at checkout. If a stylist is self-employed, their portion of a service fee is instantly separated and sent directly to their bank account. Meanwhile, the salon’s share is recorded for your revenues. This ensures everyone gets paid the right amount in real time.

Beu also provides a complete salon management toolkit to keep your business running smoothly. It’s not just a payment processor; it’s a full platform to run your salon. You get an intuitive online booking system, easy schedule management, and a robust POS that caters to both employed and self-employed staff in one place. All staff – no matter their employment status – can share the same booking calendar and card readers, with the software smartly tracking who earned what. The result is a single, unified system for all transactions and appointments, which boosts transparency and trust.

Beu also includes features to grow and protect your business. Think automated reminders and noshow protection to reduce missed appointments, client management and marketing tools to keep clients coming back, and even inventory or product sale integrations to add extra revenue streams. Crucially, you don’t have to sacrifice these conveniences when adopting a new staffing model. Whether your team is fully employed, freelance, or anywhere in between, Beu adapts to you. By centralising all these functions, salon owners save time on admin and can focus on what really matters. In a period of industry change, Beu offers stability – it makes the complex task of managing a hybrid salon feel simple.

Embrace the Future – Book Your Free Beu Demo

Beu is a solution that understands the challenges of today’s salon structures and meets them with innovation and ease-of-use. Beu invite you to experience how they can transform your salon’s day-to-day operations and set you up for success in this new landscape. Visit the Beu website to book a free demo and discover firsthand how seamlessly you can manage a team of employed and self-employed stylists. The demo is personalised to show exactly how Beu would work in your business. Book your free Beu demo today, and step confidently into the next era of salon management.