As reported on Monday on Beauty Bytes, last Friday 15 May the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Beauty, Aesthetics and Wellbeing (BAW APPG) launched its inquiry into non-surgical cosmetic procedures in the UK. On Thursday 21 May, the BAW APPG will be holding a panel session on the impact of COVID-19 the industry, focusing on the impact on online beauty and wellness platforms.
The Group recognises the serious disruption COVID-19 has caused the industry. During the panel session, the MPs will be hearing from online platforms to explore what the impact of coronavirus has had on their businesses, what they are doing to support the service-side of the industry, and how online operators will ensure businesses and customers using their platforms remain safe as soon as lockdown restrictions are lifted.
The panellists will be:
- Giorgia Rossi – COO at British Beauty Council patron, Treatwell
- Abi Selby – Founder of Spabreaks.com
- And Jack Tang – CEO & Co-founder of Urban.
The BAW APPG will be circulating a link to the video recording of the panel session shortly after the meeting and will publish a summary of the session on their website and on their YouTube channel.
The Group’s previous panel session on 7 May explored the impact of COVID-19 on salon and wellness businesses, hearing directly from industry representatives and business owners. They have since published a five-point ‘Call to Action’ to Government, and written to the Business Secretary and the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
These panels come at a time when beauty industry professionals face increasing pressure to return to their clients’ needs, including petitions being organised to demand a return for work earlier than government measures allow, and a rise in people turning to backstreet botox and face filler treatments to maintain enhancement efforts in lockdown.
This latter issue is just one of many that the BAW APPG’s inquiry into non-surgical cosmetic procedures is designed to address and combat. The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Beauty, Aesthetics and Wellbeing (BAW APPG), co-Chaired by Carolyn Harris MP and Judith Cummins MP, will be investigating how standards for undertaking such treatments, and for their promotion, should be improved to support the beauty and aesthetics industry and protect public safety.
It’s progress that our British Beauty Council Chairman Jane Boardman has long been championing. She adds:
“The British Beauty Council wants to ensure that anyone receiving aesthetic treatment does so knowledgeably, carefully and safely. We believe that the current lack of regulation is damaging to many people’s wellbeing.  We think it is crucial to ensure that consumers only use practitioners with sufficient training, medical knowledge and properly licensed product.  In the absence of regulation, an educational campaign to make consumers aware of who to trust and who to avoid is urgently needed.”
The terms of reference, call for evidence questions and information on how to submit a response are available on the Group’s website here.
Keep a track of their panel discussions and developments via their Twitter channel: @BAW_APPG.
