Question 1

Do you need a licence to open a beauty salon in the UK?

Accepted Answer

There is no national licence. London boroughs operating the London Local Authorities Act 1991 require a special treatment licence; English councils can require registration for electrolysis, semi-permanent make-up and skin piercing; Wales requires personal licences for electrolysis, tattooing including microblading, piercing and acupuncture; and Scottish councils license skin piercing and tattooing.

Question 2

Can a beauty salon offer Botox and fillers?

Accepted Answer

Botox and fillers are banned for under-18s in England. A 2026 government consultation proposes restricting the highest-risk procedures, including non-resorbable facial fillers and fillers outside the face, to doctors, dentists and independent prescribing nurses, midwives and pharmacists at CQC-registered providers, with licensing of other treatments to follow.

Question 3

What treatments make the most money in a beauty salon?

Accepted Answer

Per therapist hour, at mid-range 2026 Watford prices, an advanced facial earns about £91 and a full leg wax about £88, against about £54 for a full set of lash extensions, which takes up to two hours.

Question 4

How much does beauty salon insurance cost?

Accepted Answer

One broker's 2026 figures show 10% of beauty therapists paying £66.91 a year or less for public liability, £208.86 a year for a small salon run by its owner, and £464.52 a year for a salon with two employees. Treatment risk cover is what pays for reactions and burns.

Question 5

Do beauty salons need to do patch tests?

Accepted Answer

Salons require a patch test before tints, lash lifts, brow lamination and lash extensions, usually at least 24 to 48 hours beforehand, and repeat it where the last treatment was months earlier. A signed record of each test is what an insurer asks for after a reaction.

Question 6

How much does it cost to rent a beauty room?

Accepted Answer

Rents vary widely. One gym offered for sale lets a beauty room for £350 a month, while whole three-room beauty salons offered for sale pay from about £10,400 to £19,000 a year.

Question 7

Do you need a licence for microblading?

Accepted Answer

In Wales, yes: microblading counts as tattooing, which needs a personal special procedures licence and an approved premises certificate. In England, councils that have adopted the 1982 Act require registration for semi-permanent make-up, and London boroughs set their own rules.

Question 8

When does a beauty salon have to register for VAT?

Accepted Answer

Once taxable turnover passes £90,000 a year. One therapist booked for 60% of a 35-hour week at £55 an hour turns over about £60,000; a second therapist on the same pattern takes the salon to about £120,000.

Question 9

Do beauty therapists need qualifications?

Accepted Answer

For most treatments, no qualification is required by law, but insurers expect recognised qualifications for each treatment offered, and the licensing schemes in London, Wales and some English councils set their own training requirements.

Question 10

What beauty franchises are available in the UK?

Accepted Answer

Beauty franchises listed on L'Express Franchise include Laser Skin, with £25,000 of liquid capital and £50,000 total investment; Myotec, with £18,000 and £80,000; and Mooeys, with £24,000 and a £24,995 fee; Guinot and Laser Clinics do not publish figures on their listings.

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