Hairdresser fears she could lose home over tax hikes

"I never wanted to do anything else but be a hairdresser," said Kerry Larcher, who opened her first salon when she was 21-years-old.

Despite successfully growing her business in Hornchurch, in East London, over three decades, the 50-year-old says she now faces losing her life's work and her home.

Tax rises in October's Budget are "crippling" her salon business, she said, and the extra £23,000 a year imposed by the chancellor could prove the final nail in the coffin.

"I have been crying myself to sleep because, since October, this has been the worst period of my personal life in 30 years," she said.

"I feel ashamed to get into debt but we are gradually eating through our business reserves and I can't take wages if I don't make a profit.

"I could lose my house if the business folds - that is the reality and if things don't change it is frightening the life out of me."

The government says the tax changes announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves were needed to stabilise the economy.

They say their plan to reform business rates will mean lower taxes for High Street businesses such as hair salons when it comes into effect in 2026-27.

But salon owners fear this may come too late to save their businesses.

Cutting a client's hair, Kerry explained she could not afford to take on any new apprentices this year and had been forced to reduce the hours of her current 12 apprentices to the minimum.

The next step will be to halve the number of apprentices over the next year as their contracts finish, ending up with six by the end of this year.

If the business cannot recover over the next four years, the rest of her 28 staff, who are nearly all local women who became stylists after serving an apprenticeship at the salon, are facing potential redundancy.

"I'm having to drastically reduce my overall employee numbers to cut costs just to survive," she said.

"Where are the future hairdressers going to come from if good, employed salons go out of business":[]}