The Anglo Swann Salon Price Index records what UK hair, beauty and barber businesses are being offered for. It is compiled from 659 leasehold salon businesses advertised for sale between 8 September and 22 October 2026, gathered from the main UK business-for-sale marketplaces and specialist brokers, with duplicates removed. Most published advice on salon prices gives a rule of thumb without the numbers behind it, so we publish ours, and we update them every quarter.
Asking prices by type of salon
| Type | Listings | Median asking price | Median turnover | Price ÷ turnover | Price ÷ stated profit (listings) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hair salon | 153 | £40,000 | £105,000 | 42% | 1.8 (33) |
| Hair and beauty | 159 | £60,000 | £120,000 | 44% | 1.8 (15) |
| Barbershop | 81 | £60,000 | £93,500 | 57% | 1.7 (23) |
| Beauty salon | 158 | £65,000 | £144,500 | 56% | 2.1 (43) |
| Nail salon | 26 | £60,000 | £114,500 | 42% | 1.7 (11) |
| Spa or massage | 29 | £79,000 | £180,000 | 76% | too few (5) |
| Tanning | 49 | £65,000 | £90,000 | 81% | too few (5) |
| All salons | 659 | £60,000 | £110,000 | 51% | 1.9 (135) |
Read more on hair salons, barbershops, beauty salons, nail salons and spas.
Asking prices by area
Of the areas with at least seven priced listings, London has the highest median asking price, and West Yorkshire and the West Midlands the lowest. Only around half of listings name a county, so these figures are a guide rather than a full regional picture.
| Area | Listings with a price | Median asking price |
|---|---|---|
| London | 69 | £85,000 |
| Greater Manchester | 14 | £72,500 |
| Hertfordshire | 12 | £70,000 |
| Surrey | 13 | £65,000 |
| East Sussex | 9 | £60,000 |
| Hampshire | 14 | £60,000 |
| Kent | 18 | £57,500 |
| Essex | 18 | £52,500 |
| North Yorkshire | 11 | £50,000 |
| South Yorkshire | 7 | £40,000 |
| Nottinghamshire | 9 | £40,000 |
| Cheshire | 7 | £40,000 |
| West Midlands | 17 | £29,500 |
| West Yorkshire | 21 | £25,000 |
How price changes with size
| Turnover | Listings | Median asking price | Price ÷ turnover |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under £50,000 | 72 | £25,000 | 71% |
| £50,000 to £100,000 | 104 | £45,000 | 62% |
| £100,000 to £200,000 | 120 | £60,000 | 45% |
| £200,000 to £400,000 | 60 | £99,000 | 36% |
| Over £400,000 | 28 | £235,000 | 36% |
| Stated profit | Listings | Price ÷ profit |
|---|---|---|
| Under £25,000 | 48 | 2.4 |
| £25,000 to £50,000 | 50 | 2.0 |
| £50,000 to £100,000 | 19 | 1.8 |
| Over £100,000 | 18 | 1.3 |
The multiple falls as profit rises because small salons carry a floor price for the fit-out and lease, whatever they earn. Larger salons valued on profit after a manager’s salary are a different measure, explained in why websites quote different multiples. Only 18 listings state a profit above £100,000, so treat the top band with care.
How this compares with achieved prices
Asking prices are opening positions, and agreed prices are usually lower. We know of no UK source that publishes salon sale prices in bulk, but a large public set of sold salon businesses, from the US marketplace BizBuySell, shows hair salons and barbershops selling at a median of 1.77 times seller’s discretionary earnings and 0.41 times revenue across 879 sales between 2021 and 2025. That sits just below the asking multiples in our index. It is a different market, so treat the comparison as indicative, but it is consistent with UK salons selling at a modest discount to their asking prices.
The market behind the figures
The National Hair & Beauty Federation counts over 63,800 hair and beauty businesses in the UK, nearly two thirds of which turn over less than £99,000 a year. Office for National Statistics figures quoted by Business Gateway, which count only businesses registered for VAT or for PAYE (employer payroll), put the figure at 50,438 in 2024, with combined turnover of £5.1 billion, and show that 96% have fewer than ten employees.
How the index is compiled
UK leasehold hair, barber, beauty, nail, spa, tanning and brow businesses advertised for sale; duplicates across sites removed; product brands, training academies, franchise territories and non-UK listings excluded; weekly turnover figures annualised; ratios outside plausible ranges (price 3% to 300% of turnover, 0.2 to 10 times profit) left out of the ratio medians; freeholds excluded because the price includes property. Figures are asking prices, not achieved prices. Listings that state a profit usually mean the profit before the owner’s own pay, so the price-to-profit figures are comparable with how owner-run salons are valued. Figures are rounded. The index is updated quarterly; the date at the top shows the current edition.
You are welcome to quote these figures with a link to this page.
Sources
- Anglo Swann analysis of UK salon businesses advertised for sale, listings seen between 8 September and 22 October 2026
- BizBuySell, Hair salon and barber shop valuation benchmarks (US sold listings, 2021 to 2025) bizbuysell.com
- National Hair & Beauty Federation, 2024 industry statistics nhbf.co.uk
- Business Gateway market report: hair and beauty therapy, May 2026 (ONS Annual Business Survey figures) bgateway.com