DUE to a staffing crisis, a hair salon has decided to close one of its Dorset branches as the industry "calls out for help".
Synergy hairdressers first opened in 1995 in Poole and now has two more branches in the county.
However, its Blandford branch will be closing as the business is "desperately struggling" to find staff.
The premises which will be closing in January 2023, had 12 members of staff when it first opened in 2008, and it now only has two.
In order to protect the overall business, the decision to close the Blandford site was made so that it could "focus all its resources" on the two remaining Poole branches.
The founder of Synergy, Colina Curell, age 57, has been in the hairdressing industry for 40 years.
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She believes that staff shortages have arisen from "the cost of living crisis, Brexit, and Covid," leaving salons "desperately struggling" to recruit hairdressers.
Colina said: "I am putting it down to a mix of issues, its the cost of living crisis, Brexit, and Covid.
"Getting highly skilled staff is very difficult, we have been desperately struggling and I am very aware of what's coming in the industry.
"The whole hair industry is calling out for help, we have got the clients but we don’t have the staff.
"We are currently living month to month because of the issue.
"The cost of running a business is also pushing a lot of hairdressers to work from home or to hire chairs.
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"I don't think it's going to improve soon so we have decided to close to the Blandford site so we can focus all our resources on our two Poole salons."
There will be no job losses as all Blandford salon stylists will join the Poole salons.
This year, the 'Pragmatix Advisory' published a report revealing both of the traditional paths into the beauty sector (further education and apprenticeships) are facing challenges.
The report showed the number of apprentices in England more than halved from 2016/17 to 2019/20, compared to other industries, which saw an average drop of just over 20 per cent.
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