Small beauty businesses struggle to bounce back after no-shows, as industry shrinks by 1.5%
Experts from the world’s leading beauty and wellness booking platform Fresha, have revealed how no-shows are affecting the beauty sector, including financial and emotional impact on workers.
This comes as this week’s figures have revealed that the UK beauty and personal care retail sector unexpectedly contracted by 1.5% in 2025 to £13.2bn in specialist sales, ending a four-year recovery streak.1
Research compiled by Fresha, the world’s leading beauty and wellness booking platform, surveyed UK salon, wellness, and grooming businesses to find out the real cost of cancellations on the beauty sector workers.
You can read the full research here: https://www.fresha.com/blog/cancellations-cost-study
The scale of Cancellation Habits
- Over a fifth of businesses (23%) admit to cancelling with less than 12 hours’ notice or simply not showing up at all.
- 1 in 3 (30%) salons are dealing with cancellations 1 to 2 times a week.
The Business Impact
- Nearly a third (29%) of businesses lose between 5% and 10% of their revenue. A further 1 in 6 (15%) say cancellations wipe out between 11% and 20% of their income, and 1% lose even more.
- Over a quarter (26%) of salons even say repeated cancellations make them question whether they can stay in the industry at all.
- Only one in six (15%) respondents with two to 10 employees said they feel like they can bounce back after cancellations.
- Over half (52%) of beauty and grooming businesses in the north say cancellations force them to decline other bookings.
The Mental Health Impact
- Nearly half (44%) of salons reported that repeated no-shows take a real toll on their mental health.
- Nearly two-thirds (61%) go further and say clients often do not care about that impact when they cancel.
Annabelle Taurua, beauty expert at Fresha, has commented on how customers and salon users can support these types of business owners:
“For salon owners, a late cancellation or no-show isn’t just a minor inconvenience; it can mean a loss of earnings that can’t be recovered, adding a level of stress and uncertainty to the day. Repeated no-shows can also take a real toll on salon owners’ mental health by increasing anxiety and burnout in an industry that already involves long hours and emotional labour. In some extreme cases, this could even cause your favourite salon to go out of business.
“Clients can make a real difference by giving as much notice as possible if plans change, respecting cancellation policies, and treating appointments with the same importance as any other professional commitment. Rebooking promptly or paying a cancellation fee without a dispute can help protect both the livelihoods and mental health of those people behind the businesses.”