Number of barbershops in Britain increases by 500% in 10 years

altodevil

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Is everyone getting a hair cut twice a week? Would that even be enough to prop up this number?

How many barbershop raids have you seen lately?
 
Very low overheards and a vocation with an easy entry level.

Obviously a degree of shadyness going on here and there as well
 
Wont somebody think of the bookies.

Very weird they got lumped in with the original headline as they have been declining for years.

Edit - as the graph show duhhhhh. Anyway still weird from Andy originally.
 
Bookies declining is good, they should be legally banned IMO.
 
Money laundering?
Either that or trying to reduce declared income and consequently, tax. Probably a bit of both.

Also that things like barbers and vape shops were/are (with amended rules… that aren’t being adhered to) on the Govt list for sponsored foreign workers, an easy entry into the UK. I thought a skilled workers list would be things like nurses but it includes car washes… :confused:
 
Bookies declining is likely to do with an increase in online gambling, rather than a decline in gambling which is probably more worrying.

On barbershops, most people are getting their haircut more often, younger men in particular are often going once a week/every ten days. I know a kid from my town who is still in school and who cuts hair from home 2 evenings a week and has about 25 clients/friends who come every week.

But also, cash business, easy to manipulate and launder money. Definitely think a large portion of these barbers on high streets are dodgy.
 
Money laundering?

Definitely.

I've seen an increase happen in my city too. Funny enough, one of the places I already suspected of money laundering was a shady corner shop. It got closed down and replaced by a shady barbershop instead. There's also been an explosion of cigar shops of all things. I never see anyone inside those and they seem to open at random times.

Surely the police purposely let these businesses run in hopes of tracing the money back?
 
For similar reasons to why drugs are banned. It does harm, and it makes lots of people addicted.


Most likely, which is sad.
It is sad. I think gambling is increasing massively all over the western world. The numbers in the US are especially worrying.

But I disagree when it comes to bans. That just creates organised crime. We should however, make it as difficult as possible to be done via the internet and advertising for gambling should be prohibited.
 
Bookies declining is likely to do with an increase in online gambling, rather than a decline in gambling which is probably more worrying.

On barbershops, most people are getting their haircut more often, younger men in particular are often going once a week/every ten days. I know a kid from my town who is still in school and who cuts hair from home 2 evenings a week and has about 25 clients/friends who come every week.

But also, cash business, easy to manipulate and launder money. Definitely think a large portion of these barbers on high streets are dodgy.
This is mental. I had no idea. I thought once, maybe twice, a month was standard.
 
Bookies shrinking is due to the lack of machines in there now. I used to go in there with 20.00 on the machines but they banned them from shops so no point going anymore.
 
There are a lot of people getting their haircut every week and have been since the skin fade culture kicked in about 15 years ago.
 
Bookies shrinking is due to the lack of machines in there now. I used to go in there with 20.00 on the machines but they banned them from shops so no point going anymore.

Yeah and this aspect is a good thing - the machines were dodgy.

But the general attitude to betting in here is very odd - bookies shops can be great community hubs and having a punt on the football and horses is a great hobby.
 
For similar reasons to why drugs are banned. It does harm, and it makes lots of people addicted.
ive zero interest in betting but stopping adults doing something they enjoy seems a bit extreme. Youd have to ban pubs and shops selling booze too for similar reasons
 
Yeah and this aspect is a good thing - the machines were dodgy.

But the general attitude to betting in here is very odd - bookies shops can be great community hubs and having a punt on the football and horses is a great hobby.
I have never once seen a bookie shop that was even close to resembling a community hub. They are shady places filled with sad individuals, who keep losing money. Horrible places that cause an incredible amount of suffering.
 
Money laundering?
Definitely.

I've seen an increase happen in my city too. Funny enough, one of the places I already suspected of money laundering was a shady corner shop. It got closed down and replaced by a shady barbershop instead. There's also been an explosion of cigar shops of all things. I never see anyone inside those and they seem to open at random times.

Surely the police purposely let these businesses run in hopes of tracing the money back?
It's less money laundering and more tax avoidance / illegal immigration for the "dodgy" barbers, you can't put enough haircuts through the books to launder any money without instant suspicion
 
I have never once seen a bookie shop that was even close to resembling a community hub. They are shady places filled with sad individuals, who keep losing money. Horrible places that cause an incredible amount of suffering.

:lol: Jesus christ.
 
Money laundering?
Think that's a big part of it. Easy way to pay piecemeal for things you can't really track and has no set price.

It's also just another facet of the culture that social media has created of people who complain about not having money, yet spend huge sums on grooming, takeaways, going out and clothes.
 
It is sad. I think gambling is increasing massively all over the western world. The numbers in the US are especially worrying.

But I disagree when it comes to bans. That just creates organised crime. We should however, make it as difficult as possible to be done via the internet and advertising for gambling should be prohibited.

I disagree with you because, while outlawing it might feed into organised crime a little, I think there would be overall a massive reduction in gambling.

But heck you don't have to ban gambling all together just banning the apps and websites, I expect will yield drastic reductions without feeding into crime. Modern gambling, relies a lot on apps on the phone or websites, which deliver real-time betting and odds. It is much more addictive and accessible/convenient than having to go to the bookies and place a slip before the event. This is what has fueled gambling growth in recent years. If you ban the websites and force Apple/Google to remove the apps from their stores, then I would expect dramatic reduction in the volume of gambling.

Maybe I'm being naive but that's my take. It won't happen though cause gambling companies will be a powerful lobby and some addicts will be up in arms about personal freedoms etc.
 
Maybe I'm being naive but that's my take. It won't happen though cause gambling companies will be a powerful lobby and some addicts will be up in arms about personal freedoms etc.

I've made a living from gambling all my life - it's my job and hobby. Some of the messages on here read like assuming a pub is only full of alcoholics?
 
Loads of vape shops and phone shops in my city. People have suggested they launder money.
 
Going from 3x as many bookies as barbers, to 3x as many barbers as bookies - with barbers 6x'ing - is admittedly mad.

Fast food takeaways must also include the corporate private equity backed American chains that have sprung up in the last decade. They are fecking everywhere now.

Edit: the takeaway numbers are actually fecked, they can't be real. There are significantly more fast food joints when you consider McDonald's alone has around 1,200.
 
Lots of ‘American Candy’ shops too that also happen to sell vapes and no one ever goes into.

It’s the staff to customer ratio that’s most baffling, you’ll walk past one of these barbers and see 3 or 4 guys sitting around doing nothing.
 
Going from 3x as many bookies as barbers, to 3x as many barbers as bookies - with barbers 6x'ing - is admittedly mad.

Fast food takeaways must also include the corporate private equity backed American chains that have sprung up in the last decade. They are fecking everywhere now.

Edit: the takeaway numbers are actually fecked, they can't be real. There are significantly more fast food joints when you consider McDonald's alone has around 1,200.

The graph here is really poor as there's only two data points.

Bookies store decline is easily attributed to the online nature of their business taking over as the generation coming through are more comfortable operating online. The barber shop number is an outlier for sure and I think there's a large chance of it being a simple business to set up with no investment to anything other than taking money for renting chairs to other 'barbers'.

Takeaways is a combination of covid habits sticking and the explosion of apps like Just Eat/Deliveroo/Uber Eats driving convenience in that sector. It was documented a while back how a trend of a takeaway increase on the High Street was happening.
 
Aka The Skin Fade Effect.
It’s not just that. Even baldies can go to the barber shop these days with the rise in men taking care of their beards, skin and stuff like that.

The one I go to is basically a male beauty shop with all the creams and random skin care stuff that my wife would use but branded and marketed towards men.
 
Lots of ‘American Candy’ shops too that also happen to sell vapes and no one ever goes into.

I once looked at a store to rent in Buchanan Street in Glasgow, in which the current tenants at the time was an American Candy shop - very little inventory out the back which the agent explained was a normal business model for these stores. I would put a strong bet that landlords probably know more than they're letting on when rent these stores out, primarily to avoid them having to pay business rates and they have some level of financial interest in them also.
 
I've made a living from gambling all my life - it's my job and hobby. Some of the messages on here read like assuming a pub is only full of alcoholics?

The analogy doesn't work IMO. A pub (i.e. a public house) is primarily a place for socialisation and also a place where typically food and drinks are served. There's also non alcoholic drinks. You can go to a pub and have a coke and a meal and chat with friends and not drink alcohol. Many people do. It's not just about alcohol. And if anything alcohol consumption among the young is going down.

You don't have bookies without gambling. It's the entire purpose and the only product. I appreciate that if it's something you keep under strict control you might cherish it and see it as a hobby or personal freedom. But, like smoking or alcohol, it also feeds into destructive addiction a lot.
 
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