Blackpool hair salon announces gender neutral price list ahead of reopening next week

John Anthoney Hair, on Clifton Street in the town centre, has got rid of any gender-specific pricing or literature in a bid to become more inclusive and will instead charge people based on the length of their hair and time needed to create a desired look when it reopens on April 12.

The salon's owner, John Anthoney, said this will see a ‘more fair and transparent pricing structure’ being offered to customers.

John, who has run the business for 13 years, said: "Generally, unisex hair salons traditionally charge their gents less than their females but where is the gender equality with that?

“We want to take away the gender stereotypes when people are booking appointments because, at the end of the day, it’s all hair and we feel that hair has no gender.

“What we’ve decided to do is break our price list down into different categories including clipper cut, short-short, above and below shoulder.”

The changes mean that both men and women who have the same length of hair will be charged the same price for a haircut.

John said it was time that the salon 'made a change'.

He said: "Throughout lockdown I’ve been able to sit down and think about ways to make the salon more inclusive and a safe space for every single client.

"There are people out there that identify under different sexualities or gender neutral and some men want a feminine look and some women want a masculine looks and it was like how can I make something that can fit in with all that so it was a case of removing all labels.

"I did gain some inspiration from a salon in America which had done it and I thought, you know it's time to make a change, let's do it."

John said the changes have gone down well on social media ahead of coming into place.

He said: "I actually got a message two days ago through the Facebook page and it was a lady that had heard about the prices and she reached out which was really lovely.

"She has a 12-year-old daughter who has come out as bisexual and gender neutral so she was struggling to find her daughter a hairdresser as she wants a haircut really short and the lady saw our post and thought it was great and what she has needed.

"I think it is great that people can come along and feel like their is no judgement at all. There has been some good feedback from fellow salon owners as well, with shares on Instagram and we've had a really nice response from them thinking that it is a great idea and they are looking into doing it as well, which is really positive."