With so much happening behind the scenes in our industry, it’s great to have the opportunity to invite salon operators to come together, not least to bring them up to speed on just what’s going on, both on our own home ground and further afield. Until last year, we didn’t really have a forum to do just that in the UK; but the launch of the SHINE event has seen all that change.
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The second SHINE event took place recently at the end of October in Birmingham, England and all the feedback suggests it was a great success. A fantastic line-up of speakers from the USA, Canada, Holland and the UK provided salon operators with a totally focused and in-depth insight to industry issues and trends, perfecting staff recruitment, retention and development, and maximising profits from retail sales.
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Unlike in other countries, a significant percentage of the UK’s indoor tanning industry is still single-site businesses, although there is a year-on-year growth in the number and size of chains. Single-site owner/operators can and do feel somewhat isolated, as they don’t have many opportunities at all to get together, network, share ideas and learn from each other – until now!
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There’s a real buzz going around from those who attended the event and we are already looking forward to next year. Supplier companies are already requesting display space and salon owners have fed back that they will be bringing more staff to next year’s event. This has to be a good indicator, not least of the growing professionalism of our industry.
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Even operators who have been in business for many years with a number of salons under their belts have said they benefited from getting together and participating in what is the only dedicated event for our industry in the UK and Ireland. And, of course, very importantly, the UK and Ireland’s Sunbed Association who organised SHINE has already signed up new members as a direct result of the event.
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Without doubt, there’s renewed activity in our industry and it’s great to see new business start-ups that view trade association membership as an important decision for their success – alongside investment in top-line facilities and equipment.
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There’s also no doubt it can sometimes be all too easy in our day-to-day business activities to lose sight of the fact that, bottom line, we are a people-focused business. As such, we should regularly remind ourselves that we are collectively very lucky to work in an industry where what we are all about is making people look and feel good about themselves.
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The anti-tanning lobby isn’t going away any time soon, and we can (and sometimes do) allow ourselves to become consumed with their challenging attempts to undermine our industry. This is why events like SHINE, wherever they take place, are not only good for the industry, they are a welcome tonic for us as individuals working in this fantastic business!
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There’s no doubt about it: it’s our industry’s time to SHINE!
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Events like SHINE are not only good for the industry, they are a welcome tonic for us as individuals working in this fantastic business!
